


The number you have reached is in service

by TippierCoffee



Series: Digits [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Board Games, Cruise, Depression, F/M, Family, Flirtationship, Flirting, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Halloween, Happy Ending, High School, High School AU, Hurt/Comfort, Insomnia, Loss, M/M, Mortal AU, Moving, New Friends, New guy - Freeform, Party Games, Sadness, Sailing, Skipping School, Slow Burn, Solangelo main paring, Starting Over, Support, Text Buddies, Text Flirting, Texting, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving Dinner, Time Difference, Wrong number, adding characters and tags as i go, alternative universe, conflicted - Freeform, friends - Freeform, halloween party, mutual flirting, new kid, new life, nico centric, one-way cruise, pre-thanksgiving, slight angst, starting high school, supporting each other, text buddy, three-legged death race, transferring, unfocused
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-22
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 08:22:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 34,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22847116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TippierCoffee/pseuds/TippierCoffee
Summary: After losing both his mother and his sister, Nico's father decides to move him to New York to live with him. Nico is not sure he wants to start a new life in America after having lost everything, but maybe it's just what he needs. And maybe his mysterious text buddy can help him through the pain?
Relationships: Apollo & Naomi Solace, Apollo/Naomi Solace, Hades/Persephone (Percy Jackson), Hazel Levesque/Frank Zhang, Nico di Angelo & Hazel Levesque, Nico di Angelo & Will Solace, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Series: Digits [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1732804
Comments: 77
Kudos: 273





	1. Wrong number?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own—nor do I claim the rights to—the Percy Jackson universe or any of its characters. All credit goes to rightful owner, Mr. Rick Riordan.  
> CW: This story will touch on the subjects of grief and loss.

Nico was lying on the sofa in the empty house. Venice’s streets were not exactly crowded, but there were some people out. It was slightly windy, but the sun was out, and it was 10 degrees Celsius — nothing out of the ordinary for March. If Bianca were still alive, Nico imagined he would be outside on this Saturday evening. But Bianca wasn’t alive anymore. It was just Nico now. Nico, and his caretaker Jules-Albert.

His father decided to move him to America for high school, then forgot it for freshman year — not that Nico was surprised — but now, Dean was apparently ready to move Nico in.

Nico sighed and looked into the ceiling. Jules-Albert brought him a drink and left again. Jules-Albert had never been a man of many words, so Nico was used to it by now. The silence and him alone with his thoughts. He sat and took a sip, contemplating how he felt about leaving Venice. He wasn’t worried about the language barrier, since his mother had taught them English since they were little, but he at least knew _some_ people in Venice. He might not go out much more, or talk to them, but he still knew them. In America, he only knew his father and his half-sister. He knew of his father’s wife, but he wouldn’t say he knew her.

On the other hand, Venice was full of memories of his mum and Bianca. Memories that had now all turned sour and sad to a point where he almost couldn’t stand his place of birth anymore. If Nico could do anything, maybe he’d just sink into the ground and disappear. Then he wouldn’t have to deal with any of this.

He lay back on the sofa, not in the mood for anything else, and closed his eyes. Jules-Albert was working on dinner in the kitchen. The noise was comforting, and Nico was just about to doze off when a ping from his phone broke through and woke him again. He groaned and opened an eye, peeking at his phone on the table. He honestly didn’t feel like talking to anyone right now, but it could be Hazel texting him. With a heavy sigh, he reached out for his phone and clutched it in his hand, unlocking it and opening the message screen.

The number was foreign. Enough digits to be American, but not a number he knew or had saved in his contacts. He had half a mind to toss the phone away, but he’d already caught sight of the picture.

Whoever had texted him had sent a picture of a plush dog. It was made to look like a golden retriever, the fabric in threads all over the toy. It looked soft and fluffy, and relatively normal sized for an animal plush.

There was a caption to the picture.

_[Ricevuto - 18:45] Isn’t he cute?_ ❤️

Nico raised a quizzical eyebrow, not sure what to say, if anything. Whoever this was, they clearly had the wrong number. Nico wondered who would be dumb enough to give someone a random European number. The receiver was apparently dumb enough to think it was the number of whoever had given it to them.

Jules-Albert stepped into the living room. “Dinner is ready.”

Nico didn’t have much of an appetite, but even though Jules-Albert was usually quiet, eating was one of the few things he would nag Nico about into oblivion. Not in the mood to be nagged, Nico dragged himself off the sofa, tossing his phone onto the cushions. He’d return to it later.

* * *

He lay awake in the night. His window was open to let in air, and he could hear the city life outside. Not as bad as in tourist season, but still there. Even on his worst days, the noise tended to lull him to sleep most days. This was not one of those days. He stared into his ceiling, the darkness surrounding him and pressing in on him. If he closed his eyes, images would flash before him. Images he had never seen but imagined a million times over, each time more detailed and gruesome than the last. His heart was pounding, and his palms were sweaty. Despite the chilly weather, Nico felt like he was suffocating and burning up from the inside. He tried to focus on the breath stuck in his chest, but his throat was dry, and his body was shivering. He kicked the covers off, hoping it would help a little, but it only seemed to make it worse. Irritated, he sat up and gulped down his bottle of water, hoping to get rid of the dry throat. He had to pause multiple times to catch his breath, and when the bottle was empty, his throat felt drier than ever.

All of his body was exhausted, and his eyes were burning with tears. Nico threw the bottle across the room and looked nowhere in particular. He was so tired, and he couldn’t sleep. Everything was warm, and loud, and his head hurt. Giving up on sleep, Nico pulled his phone closer, hoping to calm down with random YouTube videos. When he unlocked the phone, instead of opening on his home screen it opened on the random text. Nico stared at it, and that dumb plush dog. It did actually look kind of cute. And cuddly.

Nico heaved a sigh, deciding nothing too awful could come from responding. If it turned out to be a creep, he could always block them. Worst case scenario, he could change his phone number.

_[Mi - 01:30] I think you have the wrong number. But yeah, I guess so._

Nico lay his head on his pillow, ready to scroll through YouTube. He found a random craft channel where the crafter was a girl with a rather soothing voice. He was five minutes into the video when his phone pinged. Rando had replied to him.

_[Ricevuto - 01:40] Oh my lord this is someone’s number? I’m so sorry. I thought it was a dud. I got it from a phone number randomiser_

This made Nico raise his eyebrow, trying to figure out who would want to send a text to a dud, whatever that was.

_[Mi - 01:50] Guess you randomly got someone's number. I see yours is American._

_[Ricevuto - 02:03] Yeah. I'm in NY. WBU?_

_[Mi - 02:07] What's WBU?_

_[Ricevuto - 02:12] It means what about you_

Nico wasn’t sure about giving away his exact location in Venice, so he settled for writing Venice. It was another thirteen minutes before he got a reply.

_[Ricevuto - 02:25] Oh my lord that’s an expensive bill_

Nico wasn’t sure what possessed him to write his next text when he should have left it be at that.

_[Mi - 02:28] Not if you have Whatsapp._

For a long while there was no answer. Nico was beginning to think whoever it was wouldn’t reply, so rather than stare blankly at his phone, he went back to his YouTube video.

He was about to doze off when his phone pinged and woke him again. This time, it was his WatssApp that had pinged.

_[Ricevuto - 02:40] Got it!_

_[Mi - 02:43] Okay._

Nico honestly didn’t know what else to say. He was finally getting tired, and now this rando was keeping him awake. He made a decision to mute his WhatsApp for the first time since he installed it.

_[Mi - 02:50] I'm muting Whatsapp. It's keeping me up._

_[Hazel - 02:55] Okay! Good night_ 😘

Nico muted his WhatsApp, went back to his YouTube video, and eventually, he fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I used Google translate to find the Italian word for received. If it's wrong, do let me know :)  
> I still don’t have update schedules, but I have this new idea I want to toy with.  
> PS: I have no idea what's going on, but even though I tried to proof read, I found a ton of flaws in this fic after the fact, so if you find typos, feel free to tell me @_@


	2. 42

Nico wasn’t really into the whole going to church thing. He didn’t mind looking inside some of the religious buildings Venice had on a weekday to have a look around, but sitting on a pew… it reminded him of funerals. Unfortunately for him, Jules-Albert was more religious than Nico, and found it quite important to go to Sunday mass. Thinking it would benefit Nico’s mood, Jules-Albert dragged him along. Nico wasn’t mad at him for it, and he didn’t make an effort to rebel, but he also definitely didn’t pay attention, and remained sitting when everyone else got up. It was too much exercise for him. Not because he was lazy or anything. Nico had always been very active and energetic. Now, he wasn’t as much. Walking seemed hard on some days. As though his body was fighting him, and when he made it back home after those short walks, he could sleep for hours on end, just to wake up and stare emptily into the ceiling with a buzzing mind. Too empty for comfort, but too loud to separate thoughts. Sometimes he cried, unable to stop himself. He tried to hide it when it happened, but he knew Jules-Albert knew about it, and probably told his father about it. Sometimes Hazel would call when the hours lined up, which was mostly during her lunch and his dinner. He wouldn’t always say anything to her, and many times he’d lose track of what she was saying, but he did his best to listen, and it made him feel a bit better to hear her voice. When she hung up and when dinner was over, however, he felt more empty and alone than ever, and everything would feel heavy and impossible. Restless, yet tired. Sad, yet no tears to cry. Wanting to be with someone, but also wanting to be left alone. More often than not he ended up on YouTube, letting auto play do its thing. Sometimes he would fall asleep for a few minutes in-between videos, other times he would space out while staring blankly at them. He knew he was getting just as bad in school.

After Bianca died, he took two weeks off. Jules-Albert didn’t want him to stay isolated for too long though, so he dragged him back to school, convincing him to at least be physically present and try his best. He was still not good at paying attention all the time. Spacing out and feeling exhausted after just two hours of class. Most teachers were understanding and took a bit of pity on him, others tried to be a bit harsher on him, hoping to motivate him to get back in the game. Even the few friends he’d accumulated seemed to not know where they stood with him all the time, leaving only two from his little group to watch out for him, because the others didn’t have the energy to deal with Nico’s moods. Nico didn’t blame them for it, though he’d be lying if he said he didn’t care — which, of course he said he didn’t.

Still, he was lucky Jules-Albert didn’t nag him about sitting down during the whole sermon. He seemed glad Nico at the very least got out of the house, if only for a few hours, and existed around other people. It wasn’t that it didn’t feel nice or anything, some days it even seemed to boost his mood, but mostly, it just felt exhausting. Almost like he’d run a marathon just from sitting around other people.

After church, they took a bit of a detour through the streets of Venice and found a market for Jules-Albert to shop at. Nico stayed close behind him, trying not to loiter too much, but he definitely didn’t feel like he was all there. He wanted to go back to bed and just stay there for the rest of the day — Jules-Albert would make him stay in the living room so he could keep an eye on him, though.

Nico decided to fish out his phone to have something to keep his mind occupied with while they were out. Maybe it would even spark some extra energy; who knew?

He unmuted WhatsApp and immediately received a message.

_[Ricevuto - 03:03] Oh my lord I just found out you’re 6 hours ahead of me. I’m so sorry for texting so late! Good night_

Nico sighed, and looked at the time — 11:30. That meant it was 5:30 in the morning in New York. He didn’t really know this person, so he couldn’t say if they were a light sleeper or whatever. Still, his body was heavy, and his head was tired, so he needed to do something to keep it going. This was as good as anything. He found his way to Jules-Albert, who’d gone a bit ahead, and started typing his message.

_[Mi - 11:37] That’s okay. I could have told you._

He contemplated writing good morning to Hazel but decided against it. He’d rather wait till it was around 9am in New York before he did that. Especially since it was Sunday. So instead, he stuck close to Jules-Albert, and helped carry the groceries while hanging back when Jules-Albert made idle talk with the grocers.

His phone pinged and vibrated in his pocket. He glanced at it, recognising the first few digits of the foreign number. It wasn’t even 6am in New York yet.

_[Ricevuto - 11:46] I guess so_

Nico stared at the text, feeling strangely hollow it seemed to be a dead conversation. He and Jules-Albert moved on, then his phone pinged again.

_[Ricevuto - 12:03] Do you think I should get the dog?_

_[Mi - 12:04] I guess? If you want it._

_[Ricevuto - 12:04] I do. But they’re not open yet_

Nico snorted and pocketed his phone. It pinged the moment he let it go. Jules-Albert looked at him with a quirked eyebrow and handed Nico some bags to carry. With his hands full, he couldn’t reply to whoever before him and Jules-Albert were in the car.

They strolled around, buying enough to last them for the rest of the month probably, and made their way back to Jules-Albert’s mini cooper, pushing the groceries into the back where the seats were pushed down to make it more spacious. Jules-Albert opened the doors and Nico hopped in, buckled his seat belt, and fished out his phone.

_[Ricevuto - 12:04] They only had 2 left yday so maybe they’re sold out_

_[Mi - 12:32] You won’t know unless you check._

_[Ricevuto - 12:33] They won’t open for a while_

_[Ricevuto - 12:40] What are you up to?_

_[Mi - 12:42] Unloading groceries. Just got back from the market._

Nico pocketed his phone to help Jules-Albert carry everything inside and place it where it needed to go. They wrapped all the meat in cling film and put it in the freezer, except for one tender loin Jules-Albert planned for them to prepare together that evening. Nico must have seemed exceptionally bad, because Jules-Albert usually suggested for him to tag along in the cooking when he was at his worst — unless Nico suggested it himself. When everything was in place, Nico sat down in the sofa and flipped on the TV to have something in the background. He put the remote control on the table near the seat Jules-Albert usually claimed. Since Nico wasn’t really watching whatever anyway, it didn’t matter that Jules-Albert controlled the TV. He was quick to turn on the motor sport channel. Nico never quite understood why, even though he’d asked and had it explained many times, but Jules-Albert was fascinated by motor sports. He followed every event, no matter how big or small; no matter where in the world.

While the racers roared on the concrete road on TV, Nico fished out his phone and curled up on the sofa. Jules-Albert put his comfort blanket around him before sitting next to him, and Nico shot him a quick thank you.

_[Ricevuto - 12:45] What kind of market?_

_[Ricevuto - 12:47] Also, you went grocery shopping? How old are you?_

_[Ricevuto - 12:51] Maybe that was kinda weird to ask. Sorry_

_[Ricevuto - 12:53] I swear I’m not a creep_

_[Ricevuto - 12:53] Wow. That made me sound like a creep anyway_

Nico glanced at Jules-Albert. Judging from the way whoever was talking, they seemed quite young. Maybe in Nico’s age range? Still, wouldn’t it be fun to pull their leg?

_[Mi - 13:02] Yeah. Grocery shopping. Not creepy or weird to ask. I’m 42. Just watching some motor sports now. I’m making tender loins tonight._

_[Mi - 13:03] What are you having for dinner?_

Nico could hardly contain himself as he waited for a reply, although he really hoped he wouldn’t scare whoever away with his joke.

While waiting, he watched the cars trying desperately to overtake each other. Four of them crashed on one of the turns so badly the red flag was flown. Jules-Albert sighed and started cussing in French.

It was odd, because Nico and Jules-Albert communicated in English, although Nico suspected if they spoke slow enough, they might understand each other in their respective mother tongues.

The emergency cars came onto the track and guided the racers out, while Samaritans went to crash site where four drivers stood and looked mighty upset about the whole thing — though not at each other. Carry trucks came for the race cars, the drivers getting a lift in the Samaritan cars, and then the other cars were released for a yellow-flag round before they were allowed to race again.

Nico’s mysterious text person had still not responded.

_[Mi - 13:40] I was joking you know._

_[Mi - 13:41] About my age. I’m only 15. I just went with my dad._

He almost wrote caretaker but didn’t want the texter to know too much. Even giving his actual age seemed a bit risky.

_[Mi - 13:42] I’m cooking with him too._

Nico set an alarm on his phone for 15:00 so he would remember to text Hazel good morning and turned his fragile attention back onto the TV. It didn’t quite work like he wanted it to, so after a while he dragged himself up to his room, found his phone charger, a set of headphones, and his Nintendo Switch. He went back down and plugged his headphones into his Switch and continued his game, keeping his phone close enough so he could feel it when it vibrated because his alarm went off.

He couldn’t help but glance at his inactive phone, let out a sigh and pick it back up.

_[Mi - 14:15] Sorry for creeping you out with my joke. That was dumb._

_[Mi - 14:18] It was a standard outdoor market with local sellers._

Nico waited with bated breath while the commercials flashed across the TV screen and Jules-Albert took it as an excuse to make them a light lunch. Nico decided to pocket his phone and follow to help Jules-Albert out so he could soothe his nerves. There was no reason to be this upset about losing contact with a random person who texted a number they hadn’t even thought was real. Still, Nico kind of enjoyed having someone he could text to remove his thoughts from everything. Especially someone who didn’t know of his tragic life story, and therefore didn’t take caution with the way they spoke to him. It wasn’t that he didn’t appreciate people’s concern, but sometimes it seemed to bring him even further down when he was already having a bad day. Maybe he just needed some rando who didn’t know anything to whatever with.

His phone pinged just as he sat down, and he was a bit embarrassed by how fast he fished it out of his pocket after setting down the platters with bread, dried meats, bell peppers, olives, and cheese.

_[Ricevuto - 14:33] Please tell me you got a picture grandpa_

_[Ricevuto - 14:33] And yes I’m calling you grandpa from now on for that joke_

The knot Nico’s stomach had tied around itself disappeared and he let out a sigh of relief, chewing on his food while Jules-Albert went back to his favourite past time of cussing at the motor sport drivers on TV.

_[Mi - 14:39] Okay Cagnetto._

_[Ricevuto - 14:41] What’s that mean?_

_[Mi - 14:43] Google it._

_[Ricevuto - 14:44] You’re a mean grandpa_

Nico put his Switch by his lunch platter and snapped a photo.

_[Mi - 14:49] At least I dine in style._

He received a gif of Sponge Bob and Patric Starfish laughing as a reply.

_[Ricevuto - 14:52] Sure thing grandpa_

_[Ricevuto - 14:57] BTW I’m 15 too_

Nico smiled at the text, feeling odd and light. He hadn’t felt like that in such a long while he almost chocked on the feeling. He took a calming breath and finished his lunch, then named the contact.

_Cagnetto_

Then he wrote good morning to Hazel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cagnetto supposedly means "doggy" in Italian, but do let me know if it's wrong :)


	3. Texts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now introducing, multiple people texting.

**_Hazel_ **

_[Mi - 12:30] Good morning Hazel._

_[Hazel - 12:31] Good morning Nico_ 😊

_[Hazel - 12:33] How are you doing?_

_[Mi - 12:35] I’m doing okay._

**_Cagnetto_ **

_[Cagnetto - 12:35] Good morning_

_[Mi - 12:35] How about you?_

_[Cagnetto - 12:36] Or should I say afternoon?_

_[Cagnetto - 12:37] Huh?_

**_Hazel_ **

_[Mi - 12:37] How about you?_

_[Mi - 12-39] I accidentally sent that to a friend because they texted me._

_[Hazel - 12:40] I’m doing good_ 😊

**_Cagnetto_ **

_[Mi - 12:41] Sorry. I was texting my sister too._

**_Hazel_ **

_[Hazel - 12:42]_ 😆 _W_ _hich friend?_

**_Cagnetto_ **

_[Cagnetto - 12:42] Ah. That makes more sense_

**_Hazel_ **

_[Mi - 12:43] A new friend I made the other day._

**_Cagnetto_ **

_[Mi - 12:45] Yeah. It makes no sense out of context._

_[Mi - 12:46] Do you always wake up at 6?_

**_Hazel_ **

_[Hazel - 12:48] I’m so glad to hear you made a new friend! I hope you can stay in touch when you move here._

**_Cagnetto_ **

_[Cagnetto - 12:52] Almost. I have the weirdest internal clock. I think the latest I slept in on a weekend was till 7.30am. It’s a curse_

**_Hazel_ **

_[Hazel - 12:53] Do you feel ready for the move?_

_[Mi - 12:53] Sounds like it._

**_Cagnetto_ **

_[Mi - 12:54] Sounds like it._

**_Hazel_ **

_[Mi - 12:55] Sorry. That was for my friend. I’m not sure._

_[Hazel - 12:57] That’s okay, don’t sweat it. I know you’re still reluctant. I’ll be there the best I can for you_ ❤️

_[Mi - 12:59] I know. Thanks._

_[Mi - 13:00] Teacher’s staring need to go._

**_Cagnetto_ **

_[Mi - 13:00] Teacher’s staring need to go._

_[Cagnetto - 13:00] Okay_

_[Cagnetto - 13:01] Maybe we can talk later_

**_Hazel_ **

_[Hazel - 13:01] Talk to you later_ 😊❤️

 _[Hazel - 13:01] And stop texting in class!_ 😠

Nico handed his phone over to Signora Bueti who gave him a very stern look over her glasses. Her veins popped as she spoke to him in Italian.

“You can get this when school is over, Mr. di Angelo.”

“Sì, Segnora.”

Some of his classmates snickered, and Nico decided to sink a bit down in his chair. He wished he could wear a hooded sweater, but it was against the school’s dress code. Then he could pull the hood up and hide under it. Instead, he was left to adjust in his chair, and grab his tablet to at least attempt to write notes. At least he only had 30 minutes left till school was done for the day.

* * *

After school, Nico decided to take a stroll through the streets of Venice on his own. Some of his school friends had offered for him to hang out with them, but Nico wasn’t much in the mood. The upcoming move this summer took too much space in his mind, and he knew he’d be spacing out anyway, so he opted for being with himself and his phone. He put in his headphones and listened to music as he strolled his childhood streets, playing a guessing game where he pointed out the tourists and tried to guess how long they’d been here, how long they planned to stay, and what they thought of his childhood city. He found a gelato place and ordered a cup with two scoops, then sat at a cafe table in the lukewarm March day. He tossed the chair’s throw blanket around him and fished out his phone, then decided to text his sister and Cagnetto.

_[Mi - 13:45] Out of class now._

**_Cagnetto_ **

_[Cagnetto - 13:50] Wow. I just got to school. Class in 10 minutes_

**_Hazel_ **

_[Hazel - 13:52] Did you have your phone confiscated again?_

_[Mi - 13:52] Just for a bit. I just wanted to say good morning._

_[Hazel - 15:53] I know. But your classes are short. We still haven’t started yet when you’re out_ 🙂

_[Mi - 13:55] Blah blah._

_[Hazel - 13:56] Very good argument, brother dear_ 🙄

**_Cagnetto_ **

_[Cagnetto - 15:56] I just told my friends about you today, and they’re super worried now that you’re a creep or something_

_[Cagnetto - 15:57] For the record I told them you’re not_

_[Mi - 15:58] Thanks._

_[Mi - 15:59] Because I’m actually not._

Nico sent a picture of his gelato as if to prove a point.

_[Mi - 13:01] Just a guy enjoying his gelato._

_[Cagnetto - 13:03] That looks so good! I’m jealous_

_[Cagnetto - 13:04] Oops. Teacher just gave me a warning for having my phone out. Next time it’ll be confiscated_

_[Mi - 13:05] Okay. Talk later._

Heaving a sigh, Nico finished his gelato and decided to head home so he could try to slug his way through some of his homework. Not that he had a lot of homework, but his attention was paper thin these days with the move so close. It was another loss all over Nico was not sure how to deal with. He found comfort in the thought he’d be able to stay with Hazel.

* * *

**_Cagnetto_ **

_[Cagnetto - 17:22] If you could go anywhere in the world where would it be and why?_

Nico chewed on a string of the hooded sweater he’d jumped into once he was home. His homework was on the living room table, almost all finished, and his phone was charging while he listened to music on Spotify. He looked blankly at the text, then side glanced at the three math equations he had left to do. They would probably take him half an hour or so to finish, and he felt like taking a break. Then again, finishing the equations meant he could relax all together. Then again, if it was lunch break now, Cagnetto probably didn’t have time to wait too long for a reply.

_[Mi - 17:27] Can it be made up or does it have to be real?_

_[Cagnetto - 17:31] Good question. My friends and I didn’t discuss that_

_[Cagnetto - 17:32] I guess it can be either?_

Nico stared ahead of him at the TV. It was on low volume, cars racing to win. Jules-Albert took notes for some reason.

That was a good question, actually. Where _would_ Nico go if he could go anywhere in the world?

_[Mi - 17:39] If it has to exist, I’m really not sure. If it can be made up, I think I would go somewhere that had Venice and New York in one._

_[Cagnetto - 17:42] Interesting_

_[Cagnetto - 17:43] Why New York?_

Nico almost didn’t want to tell, but then decided to tell anyway. New York was large and crowded. Chances Cagnetto and Hazel knew each other in person were slim.

_[Mi - 17:45] My sister and father live there._

_[Cagnetto - 17:47] Ooh. Interesting. Have you ever been NY then?_

_[Mi - 17:47] Not yet no._

_[Mi - 17:49] What about you? Where would you go and why?_

_[Cagnetto - 17:50] I’ve always wanted to see Greece or Rome. I love the history those cities have_

_[Mi - 17:52] I’ve been to Rome a couple of times. I can basically go by train or car. It’s pretty crowded and full of tourist traps so if you ever go make sure to keep your belongings close at all times._

_[Cagnetto - 17:55] You’ve been to Rome? Jealous! I don’t think I’ll ever get to go. Need to prioritise my savings and atm priority 1 is college_

_[Mi - 17:56] I haven’t thought about college yet. I can’t focus when my father wants me to come NY to live with him after summer._

Maybe that was too much information. But again, New York was so large Nico doubted he would bump into this mystery person.

_[Cagnetto - 17:58] You’re moving to NY?_

_[Mi - 17:58] Yeah. During the summer._

_[Cagnetto - 18:00] I’m from Austin Texas so NY was pretty big. Takes some getting used to but I like it. I hope you will too_

_[Cagnetto - 18:02] Teacher just came. Talk to you later_

_[Mi - 18:03] Later._

* * *

**_Hazel_ **

_[Hazel - 21:45] Just got home_ 😊

_[Hazel - 21:45] How has your day been?_

_[Hazel - 21:46] Dad says hi!_

_[Mi - 21:51] My day’s been okay. Was pretty active today in most classes. Got invited out by classmates but said no. Went and got gelato, then went home and did homework. I was chilling with a book then lost focus, so now I’m just on YouTube._

_[Mi - 21:52] How about you? How was your day?_

_[Hazel - 21:54] That sounds nice. What kind of gelato? Send me pics!_

Nico sent the picture of his gelato

_[Hazel - 21:56] That looks so good!_ 😋

 _[Hazel - 22:02] My day was quite good. Frank is coming over this weekend! Dad said maybe we could look into letting me spend some of the summer in California to catch up with my friends and Frank. I’m really excited!_ ❤️

_[Mi - 22:03] Good to hear you and Frank are making it work with the distance. I hope I get to meet him too so I can say hi._

_[Mi - 22:04] No funny business. I promise._

_[Hazel - 22:05] I’ll see about it. I want you to meet too. I think you’ll really like him_ 🥰

**_Cagnetto_ **

_[Cagnetto - 22:10] You made me want ice cream but it’s too cold so now I’m conflicted and I’m blaming you_

_[Mi - 22:11] Gelato is better than ice cream anyway._

_[Cagnetto - 22:13] Aren’t they the same thing?_

_[Mi - 22:13] I’ll pretend you didn’t just say that._

_[Cagnetto - 22:14] What? Then explain the difference to me grandpa_

_[Mi - 22:15] Gelato has more milk than ice cream and less cream and air, making it thicker, softer, tastier, and much better than ice cream._

_[Mi - 22:16] If NY has an authentic Italian gelato store go get some. You’ll notice right away._

_[Cagnetto - 22:17] I just told you it’s too cold for ice cream!_

_[Cagnetto - 22:17] And also gelato_

_[Mi - 22:18] It’s never too cold for cold desserts._

_[Mi - 22:19] Mind over matter Cagnetto._

_[Cagnetto - 22:20] Easy to say when you’re in Italy grandpa_

_[Mi - 22:20] It’s only 10C here._

_[Mi - 22:21] That’s 50F btw._

_[Cagnetto - 22:22] 50F?! It’s only 39F here_

_[Cagnetto - 22:22] FYI that’s 4C_

_[Cagnetto - 22:23] 50F is like April weather_

_[Mi - 22:24] Nah. April is about 14C. That’s 57.2F for you_

_[Cagnetto - 22:25] Owh man. I wanna go Venice now_

_[Mi - 22:25] Feel welcome._

_[Cagnetto - 22:26] I don’t have the money remembere?_

_[Cagnetto - 22:27] Oh wait. You’re a grandpa. I forgot_ 😛

 _[Mi - 22:27] At least I’m smarter than a dog Cagnetto_ 😝

**_Hazel_ **

_[Hazel - 22:30] Just spoke with Frank and dad about you meeting Frank. They both said it sounded like a good idea. Dad said maybe we could all go Cali during summer break_ 😀

_[Mi - 22:31] When am I supposed to unpack? How soon after I reach NY is this break?_

_[Hazel - 22:33] Dad said it’d be last few weeks of break, so you’ll have time to settle in_ 🙂

_[Mi - 22:34] I just let out a sigh fyi. But fine. Tell dad I’m expecting his hard labour._

**_Cagnetto_ **

_[Mi - 22:35] My family is planning a vacation to California same summer I’m moving to New York. I just want to breathe after I move._

**_Hazel_ **

_[Hazel - 22:36] Dad and Steph laughed, but Steph supports the idea a 100%_

_[Hazel - 22:37] I think you’ll really like her_ 🙂

_[Mi - 22:38] If she’s already siding with me, I think I might. As long as she doesn’t expect me to call her mum._

_[Hazel - 22:38] I promise she doesn’t_ 🙂 _Though she prefers Steph she won’t get mad if you call her Stephanie_ 🙂 

_[Mi - 22:39] I won’t call her Steph right away._

_[Hazel - 22:39] That’s fine_ 🙂

**_Cagnetto_ **

_[Cagnetto - 22:40] Oh my lord that sounds stressful. I hope you get some time to settle in at least a little before they take you to California. I heard California is nice though_

_[Mi - 22:42] Supposedly they’re planning on going the last few weeks of summer break so I’ll have “some weeks” to settle in or something._

_[Cagnetto - 22:43] Hmmm_ _… Would prolly be better to wait till next year. Any reason they want to go now?_

_[Mi - 22:43] To visit my sister’s boyfriend. I guess me saying I wouldn’t mind meeting him means I want to meet the guy right this moment._

_[Cagnetto - 22:44] Haha_

_[Cagnetto - 22:45] I hope you have a nice trip despite it all_

_[Cagnetto - 22:46] My mum will take me to Texas to spend time with my grandparents_

_[Mi - 22:47] All summer or only some of it?_

_[Cagnetto - 22:47] Probably all of it_

_[Cagnetto - 22:49] My dad will be moving out to LA while we’re there so_

_[Mi - 22:50] Your dad is moving to LA?_

_[Cagnetto - 22:52] Yeah… he got a job opportunity there. Like a promotion type thing. But we moved here last year so mum didn’t wanna move again. They talked about it long and hard and decided to split up._

_[Cagnetto - 22:53] Something about not stopping each other’s dreams_

_[Mi - 22:54] I’m really sorry to hear that. Must be tough._

_[Cagnetto - 22:56] Eh. I don’t really care_

Nico did not believe that for a minute but decided not to comment on it. Instead, he searched for a gif that might make Cagnetto laugh and settled on an eager dog falling over.

He went to set his alarm, hoping to get an early sleep tonight. Today hadn’t been the worst day ever. It had still not been the best, but it had definitely been one of the better ones. He calmed his breath and tried his best to push the thoughts of the stressful move and California vacation aside. He clicked into YouTube and found a play list with calming music meant for meditation, wrote good night to Hazel and Cagnetto, plugged his phone into the charger, and started the playlist.

**_Hazel_ **

_[Hazel - 23:04] Good night Nico_ 😘

**_Cagnetto_ **

_[Cagnetto - 23:05] Good night grandpa_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Of course I don't regret making Hazel use emoticons always. What are you talking about? 8D


	4. The move

Though Nico had tried not to retreat too much, hanging out with his classmates became more difficult as the days passed. This meant Nico spent more time on his own, lying on the sofa in the living room, staring into the ceiling, or at the TV, or texting those he knew in America. Texting Hazel and Cagnetto improved his mood, if only slightly. Jules-Albert had started nagging him about packing up his clothes and belongings, but Nico was very purposefully procrastinating. This did not sit well with Jules-Albert, who’d already bought a trailer for his cooper to move the boxes in. Not to mention the dumb one-way cruise they would take over the North Atlantic Ocean. Supposedly, Nico’s father, Dean, had paid for that one out of pocket but wouldn’t greet them at the doc. Nico knew, because he’d seen Jules-Albert write down a New York address for himself and save it in a special card holder in his glove department.

The days dragged on, Nico retreating more and more by the day. When he seldom left the sofa, he could spend the entire day strolling through most of Venice. He even once considered taking one of those cheesy gondola rides, just to allow himself time to look at his place of birth, but eventually decided against it. The gondolas were mostly made for groups, and Nico was not interested in sharing with strangers.

Eventually, Nico understood he could not wait any longer. The move was two and a half weeks away by now, and Nico had not packed any of his belongings. Thing was, none of the furniture would be moved. It would be resold instead along with the house, and Nico would move into a house with brand-new furniture for him. He’d sent his wish list to Hazel to give to their father and Stephanie, because he did not trust either of them to go out and buy something he actually liked. Hazel regularly sent him pictures, and on weekends they often video called to have him help place the furniture. It looked okay on camera, but Nico had no idea how it would look in real life or if he would have to rearrange some of it.

The day before the move, Nico somehow managed to have all his clothes and belongings packed down. His walls were bare, and everything had been cleaned over during the last month. The house practically sparkled, and it looked like no one had ever lived here. But Nico had. He lived here for 15 years. Some of those years, he'd lived with his mum and Bianca. All his memories were here, and now it would be gone. Nothing left. Not even the faint scent of his mum’s perfume that seemed to still linger in the living room curtains.

He refused to cry. It wouldn’t do anything. It wouldn’t stop what was about to happen, and it wouldn’t make his dad change his mind about the move. Nico knew Dean only wanted what was best for Nico. This probably wasn’t something Dean enjoyed any more than he enjoyed moving Hazel from California to New York.

The night before the move, Nico hardly slept. Whether because he couldn’t or didn’t want to, he wasn’t sure. He kept his eyes opened, staring into the dark night. The shadows played across his room, his bed linens were coming off tomorrow. Someone sang in the streets, and it sounded like a couple of young people passed by, laughing and talking about one thing or another. A part of him wanted to go out there, in the city at night, just to experience it, but he couldn’t let himself do that. Especially considering what happened to Bianca. She would surely come to haunt him if he went out at night on his own. He probably wouldn’t mind her haunting so much if it was gentler; there to look out for him and comfort him. But he definitely didn’t want an angry Bianca to haunt him no matter how much he missed her.

Seconds ticked to minutes, and tocked to hours. The streets went quieter as the night passed by, and eventually it was completely quiet. Like nothing existed around him and he was alone in this cocoon of ever-moving time. Tick. Tock.

* * *

The first thrill of bird song sounded. He must have dozed off, because it was still dark when he lay awake, and now, a few shadows started playing across his room from the first light of the morning sun. It was subtle. Barely over the horizon yet. But it was coming, Nico could tell.

Today was the day when he moved, and he didn’t want to. All his memories were here. Good and bad and awful. No matter how down he could get sometimes over the sadness he’d endured here, the closer they were to departure, the more he seemed to remember of all the good things.

Him and Bianca playing pirates in the canal and their mother scolding them. Baking sweets with his mum and Bianca. His mother singing them to sleep and telling stories of their father who was a businessman in America. The gelato stores in summer, and Christmas markets in winter. Heck, he might even come to miss going to church and the spontaneous weekend trips to Rome.

His vision blurred as tears welled in his eyes. He would never again hear the songs of the people in the streets. Not even the cheesy gondola ride singing. Or the laughter of the people bustling about. He wouldn’t even get to experience the tide washing in and covering the streets in water. He hadn’t even realised he would miss the tide. Or the awful tourists overcrowding every part of his childhood home. He’d heard New York was loud all the time, and even though there was bustling and music in the evenings in Venice, he doubted it was anywhere near as loud as New York. He’d also heard the city was full of litter, and the air was heavy with smog. He doubted Venice had the cleanest air around, but surely it must be cleaner than New York. Not to mention the massive crowds. Not that he minded crowds, exactly, but he definitely liked the feeling of being able to move around with _some_ personal space. He wondered how much of that personal space would disappear in New York. It would probably depend on where in New York they settled down.

The morning sun broke the sky, and suddenly, it all seemed to blur together. Jules-Albert came, they stripped his bedding, they packed the last of their things in the trailer, they took off in the car.

It wasn’t far to any harbour in Venice, really. The docs were all so close. Supposedly, they had to first catch a boat to the main lands so they could drive to Rome, and from there, the cruise ship to New York. One-way cruise tickets. Who even heard of such a thing?

From Nico’s understanding, his Dad had made sure to book them a place on one of the more luxurious cruises, as if that would make his mood better. It didn’t matter how big or accommodating the dumb ship was. It wouldn’t change the fact that Nico had to leave what little he had left of his childhood behind. If his dad had moved them earlier, maybe it wouldn’t be such a big deal, but it was a big deal now. Fifteen years was a long time to live in one place and suddenly leave. His classmates had even given him a goodbye before summer break, and written a card wishing him luck. They’d gotten him a tacky mask from one those tourist stores, but Nico could tell already he’d come to treasure that tacky mask more than anything else he owned. Maybe except that cheap skull ring Bianca gotten for him that was too big at the time but fit his index finger now.

There was almost no one on the boat to the main lands, and the streets of Rome were just waking up when they passed through. Nico had never seen it so empty. Almost as if the emptiness he felt in his chest transpired onto the streets of wherever he went.

The closer they came to the harbour, the more Nico wanted to jump out the car and make a run for it. At every stop light, he sriously considered it. There were almost no cars, so it would be relatively safe, and with the trailer clipped onto the cooper, Jules-Albert would not be able to turn around quite so easily.

He even dared putting his hand on the handle in one of the intersections, but Jules-Albert just gave him a look and said, _I would advise against that_.

And so, Nico sat back with his arms crossed, a sour expression on his face, and tears brimming in his eyes. He didn’t care to wipe them when they fell, and he didn’t care if he looked like a toddler throwing a silent tantrum. He was allowed to be upset and in a bad mood.

When they came to the ship, Nico had to resist the urge to let his jaw drop and talk about how gorgeous this cruiser was. It looked to have at least ten floors and was probably the size of four stadiums in length. It shined a brilliant white with golden letters adorning the side, proudly proclaiming her name. Jules-Albert probably knew Nico admired the ship. He probably felt smug about it too.

They weaved their way through the car line to get to where they needed to park, and slowly rolled ever forward into the hanger. Soon, they would be aboard, and then, the ship would sail. Goodbye Venice; hello New York.

He sighed as he left the car, bringing a small suitcase with sleepover clothes and the most essentials along.

Inside, the ship’s floors were lined with soft, Bourbon coloured carpets, and the walls were painted cream; the yellow tint enhanced by the lights that hung along the walls. There were restaurants and food courts everywhere. There were even mini marts, and, from what Nico could gather from one of the maps, there were a couple cinemas littered throughout the ship and two pools. One indoor, one outdoor.

Jules-Albert looked at their tickets and went to an information desk to get their key cards. The information desk was sleek and black, the staff wearing tuxes with vests and butterflies. The women wore their hair in tight buns, and they all wore glittering earrings. The men also had their hair slicked down, but only a few of them wore earrings. This felt exactly like going into a fancy five-star hotel, and Nico felt incredibly out of place in his Bermuda shorts and T-shirt. Even his worn Converse seemed too filthy for this place.

The staff gave Jules-Albert two key cards, one for himself, and one for Nico. Then, a nice-looking gentleman led them to their cabin, carrying their luggage.

The walls turned darker; almost as dark as the floor, and wooden panels of dark mahogany with a golden trim lined the top and the bottom of the walls. It occurred to Nico that his father might have actually gotten them first class tickets, and that was why everything looked so nice, clean, and pristine. Or maybe, the whole ship looked like this, since it was, according to his dad, one of the most expensive cruisers.

They reached their room and went inside. Nico couldn’t help but think that this ship was actually a hotel. A hotel, that could sail.

Their room almost looked like a tiny apartment. There was a small common room with a mini fridge, two cookers that could be covered up with a closable lid, and a table with two chairs. Their bathroom was just big enough for the toilet, sink, and shower, and on each side of the common room, was a door to a small bedroom just big enough for a bed and a nightstand. The walls were bright, except for one black accent wall, and the dark mahogany floors had a single fuzzy, white carpet covering the space below the round dining table. All doors were sliding doors, including the entrance to their room, and Nico was dumbfounded.

This ship was so grand, and so over-the-top, he had no doubt he would get lost if he veered too far. Maybe, if he got lost, he could catch the return. Then again, if he had his ticket checked, just to find out he had none, that would be a problem.

Speaking of tickets. Jules-Albert handed him his, along with his passport and key card.

“I thought you should carry these yourself. Take good care of them, and make sure not to drop them.”

Nico accepted his ticket, passport, and key card, and blessed his lucky stars he’d put on the shorts with the extra pockets that zipped. He stuffed his ticket, passport, and key card into his left-side zip-pocket, and his wallet into his right-side zip-pocket. His phone was loose in his right pocket, his bluetooth ear plugs in place.

“You don’t mind if I walk around on my own, do you?” Nico asked.

“Wait for the ship to set sail. Then you can go wherever you want.”

Nico nodded, and followed Jules-Albert, who ushered him to a food court for breakfast. He figured he might as well text Hazel and Cagnetto, even if it was way too early for a text in New York.

 _[Mi - 10:20] Hey. We_ _’re sailing in 10 minutes. I don’t know how good reception will be at sea, so, talk to you when I talk to you._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finished my last teacher’s internship, although the last 2 weeks moved online, and I mostly graded papers the students handed in. A bit worried if I’ll do okay with my education and assignments with online classes, but I’m crossing my fingers all will be fine (it’s my final year; summer 2020, baby!). I’ll probably have more time to write, since we’re all basically quarantined, but I do still need to prioritise my assignments.  
> Stay safe <3


	5. Changes

Nico had always loved ships, but he never knew he would spend 19 days on one. Even if it was a luxury cruiser, he still felt the cabin fever creeping in.

He spent the time trying to learn to navigate the ship by heart, and see if he could find any hidden passages. He loitered in the mini-bar area which came with the price for the ticket his dad got them, sipping sodas and eating too many candies. Him and Jules-Albert tried to keep a sense of normalcy by going to the mini marts and doing some home cooking with the utensils available in their cabin.

Nico had found an arcade, where a few kids his age hung out, and he even found some who played competitive Mythomagic. Nico wished he hadn’t packed his cards away in a box, so he could play with his killer decks. Instead, he had to settle with buying new cards and building new, lesser decks, and trying desperately to win with them. He was sometimes lucky, and other times his components were clearly incompetent, but he made some pretty good acquaintances along the way.

In a way, it was almost depressing. Caught on a luxury cruise, forced to make friends to not lose his mind. At least, his cell phone service was pretty decent for most of the trip. It was only really when they crossed boarders and the provider had to change it lost connection, so he also made sure to keep up with Hazel and Cagnetto who wanted pictures all the time.

He sent a couple selfies for Hazel, but only sent scenery to Cagnetto who joked around that Nico was finally a real pirate now. They somehow started writing a weird role-play like story together to pass time, about the ship being haunted, and Cagnetto being the friendly ghost trying to help Nico cleanse the ship and appease all the spirits. It was quite entertaining, actually. Although Cagnetto sometimes shortened his words and made it a bit difficult for Nico to decipher what he was actually saying, it was mostly smooth sailing. No pun intended.

At night, when he couldn’t sleep, he tried to look at the skies outside, or let the waves of the ocean lull him to sleep. Most of the time, though, he looked through his phone where he had a million photos of Venice he’d taken during his many walks. He missed his home.

* * *

Nico should have expected his father to have a villa-sized house in a nice neighbourhood. It was some ways from the city centre, so at least it wasn’t in the heart of the hustling and bustling New York traffic. Nico never thought he and Jules would make it to his dad’s before tomorrow with all that crazy traffic that took forever to get through. Thank Gods for Hazel who kept him company. Even Cagnetto sent him a few snaps from his trip to an amusement park in Texas with his mum. Just like Nico, Cagnetto didn’t do selfies, and Nico doubted any of the pictures he sent Nico were of his mum. It sure looked nice though. Nico kind of wished he was there having fun instead of being stuck in traffic. Even Jules-Albert, who was patient and did not suffer from road rage, drummed his fingers against the steering wheel as they drove. Nico hoped New York wouldn’t be the city to break Jules-Albert's spirits.

When they arrived, his family stood at the door, ready to greet them. His dad gave him a squeeze on the shoulder, while Stephanie gave him a kind smile and a pleasant hello. Hazel, however, hugged him so tightly, he thought his ribs might break. She smiled widely at him and started talking a mile a minute about how great it was going to be, and how much he would love the high school, and how fun it would be to go together.

His dad helped Jules-Albert park the trailer in the garage and the car just outside, while Stephanie showed him inside the grandiose house. It was decorated meticulously with a combination of greys and greens that were light enough they didn’t crash. They seemed to be used as careful accents around the house, like the light grey sofa with the pastel green decorative pillows, and the light grey shelves with pastel green flowerpots with luscious green plants and colourful flowers.

Hazel showed him to his rooms, all smiles, and opened the door with a wide grin.

“Tadaa! Just like you said you wanted it.”

Nico stepped inside and looked around at the furniture he had picked, placed where he’d instructed it to be placed. As he suspected, now that he was in the room, he might actually redecorate and have his desk near the window instead of his bed, so he could look outside in between working on the school assignments he would no doubt be getting after summer break. He was already re-arranging in his head. He was also thinking of having a black accent wall where his bed should be, to match the black, sleek furniture he’d chosen to adorn the room. Maybe get some dark grey thick curtains as well for the night instead of those ugly shutters.

“What was I thinking, decorating like this?” He sighed, sitting on his bed.

Hazel let out a light chuckle and sat next to him. “I always change my mind about where to place my stuff as well. I even convinced Dad to get one of those furniture lifter tools and sliders. It’s super easy to change your mind with that tool.”

Nico chuckled humourlessly and leaned into the corner. Looking at his open door and listening to the muttered voices downstairs. Hazel leaned into him.

“It took some time for me to get used to as well. It’s okay to not be happy.”

In that moment, Nico decided he was really grateful to have Hazel by his side. He didn’t need to talk if he didn’t want to, but she was still able to read him most of the time and reassure him. He hoped he would not feel this down for long, because really, as her older brother, he should be looking out for her more than she looked out for him.

The rest of the day passed by in a blur. It was almost like Nico wasn’t really there. He registered walking up and down the stairs to move in boxes, and he registered the touch and the tiredness. He zoned out when they spoke, his mind going to another plane of existence. A lonely place that went on forever with nothing there but Nico’s body, floating in space. His real body, however, started weighing down on him, and he found himself taking breaks more often when he made it up to his room with a box, staring at the white walls until they blinded him, and spots danced in front of his eyes. How was it even possible to feel weightless and heavy at the same time?

At some point, Nico’s last box made it to his room, and Jules-Albert’s last box made it to the little guest house he resided in. Nico put the box down and sat on the floor. Although he knew he sat on the floor, and he could touch the wooden floorboards with his hands, and feel the smooth, cool surface, the sensation disappeared almost as soon as it came. His body weighed against the wood, the wood hard against his buttocks, and yet, there was nothing but white noise. Silence disrupted by only a low hum somewhere in his skull. Sometimes, people were talking but their words made no sense, and although the sun streamed in through his window and was warm against his body, he still had goosebumps, and he still shivered.

Maybe, Nico wasn’t really here at all.

A ping brought him out of whatever place his mind had gone off to, and he looked at his phone, laying on his desk, plugged into the plug. There were boxes everywhere on the floor, and Nico’s eyes were burning, and his throat was dry, but he wasn’t sure if he was about to cry or not. Maybe he was just being over dramatic. He stared at his table, at his phone, as if he could will his phone to come down to him, because it seemed his body couldn’t move at all because he couldn’t connect to it. He could just sit, and look, and kind of feel, but he was little more than an empty shell at this point. His phone pinged again.

Nico let out a heavy sigh, took a deep breath, and moved his body. He succeeded standing up on his fifth attempt, and it took him a whole twenty seconds to take his first step after that; if half-dragging your feet could be counted as steps.

When he reached his desk, he immediately sat in the comfortable desk chair he’d chosen for himself and looked at the black phone screen. Birds were chirping outside his window, but Nico was hollow. He slid his hand across the smooth table surface and unlocked his phone. Two messages from Cagnetto.

_[Cagnetto - 17:45] I won a giant bear!_

He had attached a picture of said bear. It sat in a bed and looked to be the same size as an average person. It was a white bear holding a large, red heart which said _I love you!_

_[Cagnetto - 17:48] Did you make it to your dad’s yet or are you still stuck in traffic?_

Despite himself, a small smile found his lips, and Nico stared at the dumb bear. He wondered how Cagnetto and his mum had managed to get that into their car and if it would fit for their road trip back. Nico put his phone down again, pushed his chair out a bit, and twirled in it, thinking of what to say. Then he picked up his phone and snapped a photo of his bed.

_[Mi - 17:53] We made it. My boxes are everywhere. Can’t really cope with unpacking right now._

He chewed his lip while considering if he should write the rest, then decided it would be okay. After all, he didn’t know who Cagnetto was. They would probably never meet in real life, so Nico didn’t have to worry about embarrassing himself.

_[Mi - 17:59] I think I just had an existential crisis. It was like I wasn’t here._

_[Cagnetto - 18:03] How do you mean?_

_[Mi - 18:06] My head felt empty, and I couldn’t feel my body, but I could feel the floor and the sun? It’s hard to describe._

_[Cagnetto - 18:04] Did you suddenly lose motivation or stamina as well?_

_[Mi - 18:04] Yeah._

_[Cagnetto - 18:05] Have you felt like this before?_

Nico was starting to question how much he was willing to tell this stranger, but maybe it was exactly because he was a stranger and Nico didn’t have to worry about him slipping up and telling someone else, and if he did, he’d call Nico Grandpa, which didn’t really tell who Nico was. Looking at it neutrally, they were both strangers, and they could both be anyone, and that somehow made it extremely easy to open up and tell these things Nico would usually keep to himself to not get those pitying looks and hushed voices. Always whispering in the hallways about poor Nico di Angelo who lost his mum and his sister. We should be nice to poor Nico di Angelo, because he is so fragile, he’ll break. Carry him on a platter and pet him like the poor, abandoned shelter dog he is.

_[Mi - 18:10] I’ve felt empty ever since my mum died. Not a lot, because I still had my older sister. But then my older sister died, and I was all alone, and the emptiness feeling got worse. Then I had to move, and now it’s like it’s all emptiness, even when my younger sister and father and stepmom is here. I feel like I should be happy to be with my family, but I just feel empty._

_[Cagnetto - 18:13] I’m kind of dealing with that too atm. It’s starting to hit me that my parents are getting divorced, and I’m trying not to feel sad. I honestly think mum took me to the amusement park to get my mind off things_

_[Cagnetto - 18:15] She’s talking about going to therapy to work through it and stuff_

_[Cagnetto - 18:15] Might be a good idea. I dunno_

_[Mi - 18:18] Maybe. I don’t want my family to start worrying about me all the time though. Maybe it’ll just go away._

_[Cagnetto - 18:20] I ain’t a doctor, and I’m not trying to judge, but it kind of sounds like you might be depressed? If you are, I think therapy might be a good option to consider. Not gonna tell you what to do though. It’s up to you_

_[Mi - 18:21] I went in Venice after my mum. My sister and I both went. It helped a lot. So it’s not that I wouldn’t want to go. I just don’t want my family to ask about it and stuff. Knowing my dad, he’ll probably ask all the time, trying to bond. Don’t want to deal with that._

Hazel came up the stairs and knocked on Nico’s open door. He turned to look in her direction. She gave him a gentle smile. Hazel was probably the only person Nico knew in real life who understood what it was like to leave your hometown; she’d moved twice, after all. Sure, Cagnetto knew too, but sometimes it was easier to talk than text, and Hazel wasn’t pitying him either. Not really.

“Steph asked me to tell you dinner is ready.”

Nico nodded and turned to his phone again as Hazel’s footsteps disappeared down the stairs.

_[Mi - 18:24] Dinner is ready._

_[Mi - 18:25] Thanks for the advice, by the way. I’ll think about it._

_[Cagnetto - 18:25]_ 🙂

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait. This story is something I try to work on to wind down, though after spending most day writing assignments and working on my original story I want to enter for a contest, I don’t always have energy to write as relaxation, so I end up on YouTube and TikTok. Such is life.


	6. The new guy

Summer break passed in a blur. It was difficult for Nico to keep track of it all. He decided to rearrange his furniture but wait with the accent wall. The desk against the window was a much better idea, and the furniture moving tools Hazel had told him about were a God sent. With wheels under the furniture, they were easy to roll around, and luckily for him, his dad hadn’t drilled any of the shelf cases to the walls, so there were no holes to cover when he moved those around either. While he moved around, his boxes were stacked on top of each other in the hallway, boxes with his clothes more easily accessible than other boxes. It took almost three weeks for him to finally decide on something before he was happy and started unpacking.

The last two weeks of the summer break, Nico and his family went to California to meet Hazel’s friends and Frank. Nico had hardly settled in by then, having had only two weeks before the California trip to unloads his boxes. That was a ten-day project, so he only really got to relax for four days — if packing could be considered relaxing.

Hazel’s friends seemed nice. He met Jason Grace, whose sister apparently lived in New York because their parents got divorced, so Jason lived with their dad and his step mum, while his sister — Thalia — lived with their mum. He also met Reyna Ramírez-Arellano who was stoic and somehow, she and Nico hit it off pretty well. It was a bit odd though, since both Jason and Reyna were three years older than Nico, but Hazel said she’d met them at some camp. The same was true for Frank who was one year older than Hazel, same age as Nico. He was a bulky guy, who seemed awkward in his own body. Nico guessed he was the kind of guy people would call a teddy bear, since he was so big, but also soft on the inside. Very well-mannered and respectful. He seemed nervous about Nico, but Nico couldn’t bring himself to give the guy a brotherly threat. Not even for laughs.

For most of the time, when they hung out with Frank, Jason, and Reyna; Nico, Reyna, and Jason loitered a bit behind the couple along with Nico’s dad and Stephanie. It seemed Reyna might have some sort of thing for Jason, and Jason was oblivious to it, and apparently also had an LA girlfriend. Nico had no idea long-distance relationships were so popular.

They left California, Hazel crying because it would be a while before she could meet Frank again, and Nico with two new phone numbers on his new phone. He still hadn’t gotten around to giving Cagnetto his new phone number, which made it pretty easy to know when it was him texting, because he still wrote to Nico’s old phone with the Italian phone number.

Cagnetto and him had talked a bit more about depression and loss. They swapped stories Nico never knew he would swap with anyone, and he’d found himself comforting someone over text. He found it surprisingly easy to do that on text. In person, he knew he could be a bit awkward because he was blunt, but on text he could better consider his wording and read back his thoughts; take some of the accidental bite out of his sentences.

He would say him and Cagnetto were quite close, so Nico should definitely see to giving him his new American number. His Italian one would shut down at the end of summer anyway. The last bit of Italy he had left.

* * *

On the first school day, their father drove them to school. This was a bit of a shock to Nico, and he wondered if he was dreaming. His father was a busy businessman, and he often didn’t have the time for these kinds of errands. Maybe Dean just wanted to see them off properly, and Nico wasn’t going to complain. It was only a matter of time before they started getting lifts from Jules-Albert until Nico could take his license next year. And he _would_ be taking his license. There was nothing worse than relying on people for simple things like this, especially when they had school busses. There were too many eyes on them and Dean’s fancy car. It looked misplaced on the school’s parking lot filled with students’ cars. Even the teachers’ cars were not half as nice as Dean’s.

Nico got out of the car while his dad gave them an official nod, and an equally official _Have a pleasant day_ , and then he was off.

Hazel waved enthusiastically at him while Nico just stared, his feet heavy as lead, his stomach void of anything. His head felt empty again, like there was an echo in his skull. The echo in his skull cast around the sounds of people bustling to the school and catching up. It almost sounded like he was underwater, and then, not really, because Hazel’s voice was clear.

“I’ll show you to the office.”

She was smiling. Nico didn’t need to look at her to know she was, and he let her take a hold of his arm and tug him along as he mindlessly watched the scenery unfold.

The school was a boring concrete building with an equally boring concrete car park and fenced-in courtyard. The fence ran along the walls of the school, surrounding it in a wide square. A few people were shooting hoops in the courtyard, laughing amongst themselves.

Inside, the hallways were very standard. They were lined with lockers, just like on TV, and the floors were of grey linoleum. The walls were all plaster, painted in an off-white with a red streak running horizontally across the middle of the walls. There were a dozen or so message boards lining each side of the wall in the entrance, littered with messages and posters to join the soccer team, the drama club, the glee club, the basketball team, the swim team, the lacrosse team, the track team, the chess club, the debate team, the prom committee, the student council, the football team, the cheer squad. How many activities did this school have? Not to mention all the general messages. This is your janitor, these are the hallway rules, the class rules, the principal, the hours to see the principal, the hours to see the school board, the school’s number, the hours for ringing the school. It was enough to make Nico dizzy.

There were pictures of the school staff, all the teachers and cleaning staff and cafeteria staff, their names underneath their picture, and Nico hoped he wasn’t expected to learn all those names by heart. Hazel led him along the hallways, Nico’s phone vibrating in his pocket. It was probably Cagnetto saying good luck on the first day, since Nico had confided in him on the way to the school that he was actually kind of nervous to start as the new kid in junior year. Cagnetto had been encouraging and reassuring, and then they’d talked a little more about Cagnetto’s parents getting divorced and how Cagnetto hoped his friends wouldn’t treat him differently, because he needed normalcy right now. Nico understood that better than anyone.

“Hazel!” A girl came running up to them. She looked to be about the same age as Nico.

“Lou Ellen!” Hazel cried happily, hugging the girl.

The girl, Lou Ellen, looked at Nico. “And who is this?”

“This is my brother, Nico. The one I told you about.”

“Oh, that’s Nico?” Lou Ellen stuck out her hand with a confident smile. “Nice to meet you, I’m Lou Ellen.”

“Nico,” Nico said, giving her a firm handshake.

She smiled appreciatively at him, then at Hazel. “Where are you guys headed?”

“The principal’s office. Nico needs his schedule.”

This made Lou Ellen smile even wider, then frown, as though she had changed her mind. She looked Nico over, then looked somewhere off in the distance ahead of them where two guys were talking at a locker.

“You know, I think Will would appreciate the distraction, after what happened this summer.”

Hazel looked at the two guys, then frowned sadly at Lou Ellen. “Oh yeah. His parents. How is he taking it?”

Lou Ellen shrugged. “As well as anyone can, I think. From my understanding, he doesn’t want us to talk about it unless he does, and just continue doing what we’re doing.”

“Hm. That makes sense.” She looked at Nico who was zoning out and not really registering much of what they were saying, although he heard their words. “Would you mind, Nico?”

“Huh?” Nico looked at her, snapped back to attention. “Would I mind what?”

“Letting Will take care of you for the day. He’s had a rough summer, so I think it might be good for him to take someone under his wing to distract him a bit.”

Nico just shrugged. Although it would have been nice if Hazel had shown him the ropes, he figured he needed to make friends at some point. Letting this Will guy show him around might not be the worst idea. Who knew, maybe they might even become friends.

“Sure,” he said.

Hazel gave him a grateful smile, and the two girls steered Nico towards the two guys. One of them was not much taller than Nico. His hair was wild, and his eyes screamed mischief. The other one must be at least a head taller than all of them, blond hair and blue eyes, his skin sun-kissed, and his nose splattered with freckles. There was a small smile on his face, but sadness in his eyes. Nico guessed this must be the Will guy who had apparently had a rough summer. He definitely looked like someone who would rather be sleeping somewhere.

“Will, Cecil!” Hazel greeted both of them with a hug. “This is my brother, Nico. Nico, this is Cecil, and this is Will.”

Nico shook their hands in turn while exchanging names and pleasantries.

“So you’re the brother Hazel’s been going on about?” Cecil asked.

Nico nodded. “That would be me.”

Hazel turned her attention to Will who was staring off into space, his hand clutching something in his pocket.

“Will?”

He turned to her. “Yeah?”

“I know this sounds weird, but Lou Ellen and I wondered if maybe you would show my brother around?”

Will turned his eyes to Nico and looked at him for a moment. Normally Nico wasn’t the best with eye contact or being watched, but somehow, his skin didn’t crawl with discomfort. It might be because Will’s eyes looked so sad and tired even though he seemed to really try to just smile.

“Sure,” he smiled. “I could probably use the distraction, no offence.”

“None taken,” Nico said. He hugged his sister and went to Will’s side. “I need to get to the office first for my schedule.”

“Got cha.” He turned to the rest of the group. “We’ll see y’all later.”

“See you, Will!” Lou Ellen waved, and then she turned on her heel, Hazel and Cecil at her side.

Will started walking off at an easy pace. Nico had to walk a bit faster than he usually would, because Will had long legs. Nico couldn’t help but notice he had quite an athletic build and scolded himself for it. It wasn’t polite to stare at someone, but damn it if this Will guy didn’t look good, and Nico was not going to pretend he wasn’t at least a bit visually attracted.

“The layout of the school is pretty simple,” Will said. “All the rooms have a number, like 101, 102, 203, and so on. The first number of any room represent whether it’s here on the first floor or on the second floor, and then the other two numbers are just room numbers. So it’s going to be really easy to navigate.” Will presented the staircase as they passed with a wave of his hand. “The library is on the second floor, room 210, and nurse’s office and school councillor are down the hall here in room 110 and 112. The school councillor, Mr. Brunner, kind of doubles as a school psychologist because budget, but he’s really good to talk to if you need to talk about anything at all.”

At the end of the hall there was a large double door leading into the cafeteria, with nothing but bare walls to the right, but a hallway that continued on the left.

“Down here is the principal and school board. They’re a bit out of the way so people won’t stare too much if someone’s been called to the office for something. The principal can be a bit intimidating, but she’s very fair. She comes from this family that’s really into Greek mythology, so they named her Demeter.”

Nico nodded along, writing those names behind his ear. Mr. Brunner and Demeter. Those were important.

When they reached the high-polished, dark oak door, Will raised his hand and knocked three times, waiting for an answer. A young woman in a pencil skirt came over and opened for them.

“Oh, hey Will.”

“Hey, Nancy,” Will smiled. “Is Demeter in? I have the new guy with me.”

“The new guy?” Nancy looked at Nico. “I thought Hazel would bring him in.”

“Change of plans,” Nico said. “She handed me off to Will instead.”

“Ah,” Nancy pointed at two chairs outside another door, this one a light oak, with a blurry glass window covering the top half. A voice could be heard through the door, but it was muddled, so Nico could only guess the door was soundproof. “Just a moment, I’ll let her know you’re here.”

Nancy knocked on the door before entering and left the two in the room alone. Nico’s body suddenly felt heavy, sluggish, and exhausted. He wondered how he was going to get through the day.

“You know,” Will said. “I was new here last year. Came after the new year when everyone had already settled in. I was lucky Lou Ellen and Cecil took me in, and Hazel has also been really nice to me. How’d you know her again?”

“She’s my sister.” Nico said, then clarified when Will gave him a bit of a look. “Well, paternal half-sister, technically, but I’ve known her for so long now I just say sister.”

Will gave a nod. “Sorry if I gave you a look. I know what that feels like. I have four half siblings form three different parents. Three of them are boys, one is a girl. Two of the boys have the same mother, and the girl was adopted when my dad was with this guy. The last son is black, so I know what those looks are like when people learn we’re siblings. Not to mention family gatherings where you can tell from our ages my dad was definitely fooling around. I honestly don’t understand how my mum stayed with him so long.”

“They’re not together anymore?”

Will looked at his hands and swallowed. “No. They recently split up.”

“Oh.” Nico nodded, not sure what to say to that. He supposed that’s what Lou Ellen and Hazel meant when they said Will had had a rough summer. “Sorry to hear that.”

Will shrugged. “I think it was bound to happen. Their relationship has been really rough because my dad is, as he puts it, a free spirit. It’s like he lives in his own world where he can do no wrong. I mean, he’s not a bad dad or anything, but he’s definitely not living in the same world as the rest of us.”

“He sounds like a hippie,” Nico snorted.

That had Will chuckling. “He kind of is. I think the only thing he’ll ever truly love is his career as a music producer. He loves finding the next big thing, and you can’t be tied down when looking for that. Supposedly.”

Nico let out a grunt. “I mean, my dad had Hazel when he came here on a business trip once while he was with my mum. She didn’t like that, so she ‘let him go because he wasn’t happy’ and we stayed in touch. I think a bit of my dad died when my mum let him go.”

Will smiled. “I guess that’s what some people get when they cheat.”

“And I guess some are forgiven.”

Will smiled at him, and Nico’s heart might have stopped. It was odd, because Nico wasn’t one to think people had pretty smiles, or pretty frowns, or any pretty facial expressions, because facial expressions were all the same. But Will actually had a really nice smile. Maybe even a pretty smile.

Nancy stuck her head out. “Nico di Angelo? Demeter is ready to see the two of you now.”

They went inside and got Nico’s schedule. He shared homeroom, biology, and maths with Will, so that was pretty lucky to already know at least one person in those three classes. Will seemed excited about the revelation and promised they’d sit next to each other if Nico wanted. Nico wasn’t going to turn down that offer.


	7. The Roman coliseum

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You want it? I got it.

_[Cagnetto - 7:50am] Good luck today. I’m sure you’ll do fine_ 🙂

Nico lay in his bed, staring at the message, his body exhausted, his head spinning. It had been such a hectic day he hadn’t even had time to reply to Cagnetto or check his messages, and his eyes were stinging with sleepiness as well. The thought of leaving Cagnetto on read didn’t sit well with him, though, so he turned to his side and started typing a reply.

_[Me - 4:30pm] Hey. Sorry for not replying. Today’s been crazy. It went okay. My sister introduced me to some of her friends, and I have quite a few classes with them, so that’s nice. They let me join their lunch table, but they didn’t ask me a million questions, which was nice. So my day was okay, but I’m really exhausted right now. How was your day?_

Nico rolled onto his back, staring at his ceiling. He still hadn’t changed the language on his new phone to Italian yet, and he hadn’t changed the time to military, because he couldn’t be bothered. At least he’d remembered to give Cagnetto his new number before his Italian one went out of service. He closed his eyes, the phone resting in his palm, and he was just about to doze off when it gave a ping and vibrated in his hand.

_[Cagnetto - 4:35pm] I figured it might be a lot today, no worries. My day was so so. It was really hard to stay positive. I didn't really want to talk about the whole thing with my parents, and my friends all respected that. Still, it took so much energy out of me to act normal, and I’m exhausted now_

_[Cagnetto - 4:38pm] We got a new guy today. My friends convinced me to show him around, so that helped a bit_

Nico smiled at that. Still, he felt bad he hadn’t been able to help Cagnetto or even spare him a thought. He should send him a picture of something to make him feel better. He wasn’t sure what though. He closed his eyes, trying to think of something that would lift Cagnetto’s mood. He’d been so sad since he started accepting his parents split up.

Then, it hit Nico. He trudged to his desk, booted up his laptop, and looked for his portable drive. It was a special drive for all the pictures he ever took with his phone or DSLR of wherever he went. Most of them were DSLR pictures, and pretty much all of them were various places in Italy. Buildings and crowds and carnivals, food and tourists and sites. He found one of his pictures of the coliseum in Rome and dropped into his Google Drive, opened it on his phone, saved it to his album, and sent it to Cagnetto.

_[Me - 4:43pm] Let me take you on a tour of the Roman coliseum._

_[Cagnetto - 4:34pm] Oooh!_ 😀

Nico dropped a few more photos into his drive of the coliseum from the inside and sent them as he took Cagnetto on a virtual tour. He made sure none of the pictures had him or Jules-Albert in them. He explained the structure and the labour in great detail. Cagnetto prompted him with a multitude of questions like any good listener would, and Nico answered them to the best of his abilities. He told of the gladiator games of old, and how the building still served as a blueprint for modern day stadiums. He was so into it, looking through his pictures, he completely forgot why he never looked at them much, until he reached one specific picture.

The photo had been taken by Jule-Albert. It was a photo of him and Bianca against the clear, blue sky. The sun was high, and the coliseum made for a nice backdrop, the brown rocks soaking up the sun. The pit was visible below them, layers upon layers of rock formations creating a labyrinth. They stood next to a plaque whose writing was unclear, but Nico knew it said something about the maze formation and the gladiator games.

Nico wore a dumb snap back hat to not get a sun burn on his nose, and a thin, long-sleeve, zip-up hoodie atop a white T-shirt with a picture print of the coliseum on it and ROME in big, yellow letters. Definitely a tourist T-shirt he never wore after leaving the city. Bianca wore a long, quarter-sleeve white dress, and a broad summer hat made of braided straw. Nico wore aviator sunglasses, while Bianca wore big, plastic frames that looked like their late mother’s. They were smiling on the picture. Even though they hadn’t lost their mum long ago, they were still smiling, because they at least still had each other.

Nico’s heart stopped in his throat, and he looked at his phone and the elaborate game he’d set up for Cagnetto to get a chance to see Rome. It was fun and lively. Even the sounds of the bustling people he’d described, and he and Cagnetto had pretended to walk the tribunes, taking those pictures Nico had sent, standing by the fenced edge and looking down into the pit of the coliseum. It had been so peaceful, and it _just_ struck Nico how similar it was to when he was there with Bianca. How many of the same things he and Cagnetto had pretended to do and how happy Nico had been.

He wished he was with Cagnetto right now; physically. It was odd, because Nico had never considered this, but they were both in New York right now. It might be a large city, and the chances of them meeting by accident were slim, but if they wanted to, they could arrange it now. There was no time difference, only the anonymity.

Nico’s stomach coiled around itself. He started typing.

_I want to meet you._

He looked at the message, his heart racing, the backdrop of him and Bianca still sad, but not because it was him and Bianca anymore. Even though it still hurt to see her, he was getting a bit better at it. Not much, but baby steps were still steps. Now, however, he found himself upset that the picture wasn’t of him and Cagnetto, and he didn’t even know what Cagnetto looked like.

His eyes fixed on the message, his face hot, his heart racing, his throat dry. He deleted the message and wrote something else instead.

_[Me - 5:00pm] I’d forgotten these photos were taken when my older sister and I went. I just saw a photo of us together, and now I miss her._

_[Cagnetto - 5:03pm] Sorry to hear that. Are you okay?_

Nico smiled at the message. Cagnetto was really a considerate guy. Still, he didn’t want Cagnetto to feel sorry or bad. Nico was trying to cheer him up, not get him upset again.

_[Me - 5:04pm] It’s okay. It’s because I saw a picture of us together. I’m okay now._

_[Cagnetto - 5:04pm] Promise?_

_[Me - 5:05pm] Promise_ 🙂

Nico bit his lip, considering whether or not he should type and send what was on his mind, then decided it was better than sitting around and feeling awkward.

_[Me - 5:07pm] I kind of wish I could give you a real tour of the coliseum._

_[Cagnetto - 5:08pm] Didn’t you just do that?_ 😝

_[Me - 5:08pm] You know what I mean._

_[Me - 5:09pm] PS. I just rolled my eyes at you._

_[Cagnetto - 5:09] Such a grandpa thing to do_

_[Me - 5:10] If we were really there, I might just push you in the pit._

_[Cagnetto - 5:10pm] Gasp! How dare you?_

_[Cagnetto - 5:10pm] And here I thought you cared about me_

Nico’s heart skipped a beat and butterflies came to life in his stomach. He bit his lower lip while smiling.

_[Me - 5:12pm] Only when you behave like a good dog._

_[Cagnetto - 5:12] I’m not even a dog though_

_[Me - 5:13] No. You’re right. Dogs have better manners than you._

_[Cagnetto - 5:14] At least my ears and eyes are fine. CAN YOU EVEN SEE WHAT I’M WRITING GRANDPA?_

_[Me - 5:15pm] WHY ARE YOU YELLING YOU DUMB DOG?_

_[Cagnetto - 5:15pm] I NEED TO MAKE SURE YOU CAN HEAR ME. CAN YOU HEAR ME OR HAVE I LOST YOU?_

Nico bit his lip to not laugh out loud and have his privacy invaded, and his body was shivering from the strain of laughing silently. This was too dumb.

_[Me - 5:16pm] I can READ your messages fine, but I can’t HEAR you since we’re TEXTING, dumb ass._

_[Cagnetto - 5:17pm] Blah blah blah blah blah. I’m a grandpa. I’m old a wrinkly_

_[Me - 5:17pm] I’m 15 like you and not wrinkly at all._

_[Cagnetto - 5:18] I’ll take a hold of your cheeks and mush them. Maybe you’ll get wrinkles then_

_[Me - 5:18pm] You could try, but I might just bite off your dumb hands._

_[Cagnetto - 5:19pm] How dare you. These hands belong to a future doctor_

_[Me - 5:20pm] I don’t know if a dog doctor is safe._

_[Cagnetto - 5:21pm] If you were next to me, I’d hit your chest_

_[Me - 5:22pm] If you did that I’d slap you on the cheek._

_[Cagnetto - 5:22pm] Then I’d lick your face to throw you off_

Nico’s heart raced in his chest and he stared at the message, laughing while the butterflies swirled around.

_[Me - 5:23pm] That’s because you’re a dog._

_[Cagnetto - 5:24pm] I can bite too_

_[Me - 5:24pm] Go ahead. I’ll throw you in the pit to discipline you._

_[Cagnetto - 5:25pm] I liked you better as a tour guide_

_[Me - 5:26pm] Insinuating you like me at all._

_[Cagnetto - 5:26pm] And what if I do?_

Nico stared at the message, his ears ringing, his throat as dry as sandpaper, and his chest vibrating with his pulse. He thought his chest might burst, and he licked his lips because they were becoming dry too.

He couldn’t take his eyes off of those words. Touching them as if that could make them come to life. If Cagnetto was really there, Nico might want to kiss him the way his heart was pounding, and that made his heart go faster.

He started typing.

_I like you too._

His pulse rose with his finger floating above the send button. Everything was aflame inside him, a bonfire of warmth and at the centre of it was Cagnetto tugging at his heart strings. Although they spoke like this, shared all their secrets, Nico told him things he wouldn’t tell anyone else, he ultimately didn’t know who Cagnetto was, and that cut through his heart like a hot knife. It was dumb and unrealistic to say he liked Cagnetto, because although he knew a lot about him, he didn’t actually know him, so could he really say that? Sure, he would consider him a friend, and 'like' wasn’t that loaded of a word, but Nico knew what his 'like' meant in that sentence, and he wasn’t sure it was a good thing to send. It was something he should tell in person. Some day. Maybe.

He deleted the message and typed again, deciding to keep it lighthearted.

_[Me - 5:30pm] Dogs usually like their owners, so that’s good to know._

_[Cagnetto - 5:33pm] SCOFF! You’re my owner now?_

_[Me - 5:34pm] Someone has to look out for you._

_[Cagnetto - 5:35pm] A senile grandpa? Looking out for me? I am truly blessed_

_[Me - 5:35pm] Careful boy. I might not show you anymore of Italy with that attitude._

_[Cagnetto - 5:36pm] There’s more?_

_[Me - 5:36pm] Of course._

_[Me - 5:37pm] I have a portable drive full of photos from Italy. I can take you almost anywhere._

_[Cagnetto - 5:38pm] Can you take me to the Vatican?_

_[Me - 5:38pm] Yeah. I have a bunch of photos from outside and inside._

_[Me - 5:40pm] But you have to promise to be a good boy and stick close to me. The Vatican is crowded, and I’d rather not lose you._

_[Cagnetto - 5:41pm] I’ll make sure to hold your hand_

_[Me - 5:42pm] Good. Now, who’s a good boy?_

_[Cagnetto - 5:43pm] I am?_

_[Me - 5:43] Damn right you are._

_[Cagnetto - 5:44] Then again. I have a really good owner_ 😉

Nico’s face was hot again and he was quite sure he was getting excited. It felt a bit dangerous to be flirting like this and crossing into muddied waters where they were playing around like this. Nico read it as flirty, but he didn’t know if Cagnetto did. Still, Cagnetto winked at him, so maybe he did, and maybe Nico didn’t mind it one bit.

 _[Me - 5:46pm] And I have a really good dog_ 😉

_[Cagnetto - 5:47pm] You have no idea how much I’m laughing right now._

_[Cagnetto - 5:47pm] Thank you so much_

_[Cagnetto - 5:48pm] Not just for making me laugh but for showing me the coliseum. I had a really good time_ 🙂

_[Me - 5:50pm] My pleasure. It was nice for me to revisit Italy too. I’ll pick out pictures form the Vatican so I can show you some time. I think you’ll love it._

_[Cagnetto - 5:50pm] I can’t wait_

_[Me - 5:51pm] Well. You’ll have to_ 😝

_[Cagnetto - 5:51pm] Har har_

_[Cagnetto - 5:52pm] For real. Thank you grandpa. You’re amazing_

Nico smiled at his phone. He probably looked really silly, but he didn’t care.

_[Me - 5:53pm] You too Cagnetto._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of my exams is coming up soon, so this might be a one-off in terms of how soon it was uploaded after last chapter.


	8. Comfort

Within the next few weeks, Nico found his place within Hazel’s little friend group. He learnt a few things about each of them.

Lou Ellen identified as Wiccan and did tarot readings if requested, but decidedly didn’t wear her pentacle necklace, because everyone mistook it for the Satanic symbol, and she was, as she put it, not dealing with that uneducated misinformation.

Cecil was a prankster through and through, and if he didn’t find himself in some sort of trouble at least once a day, it was safe to assume he was feeling unwell. Oddly enough, he was also extremely popular despite his antiques, and everyone seemed to come to him for a good laugh or to set up an elaborate school prank to get back at a teacher for being unjust.

Will was the resident volunteer nurse who knew everyone and who everyone knew. Even though he didn’t do any sports, and didn’t get invited to parties, he was probably popular in his own right. Nico hadn’t seen him not get along with anyone yet, and he had this air of calm around him and could diffuse even the worst of fights. This, was probably the main reason Cecil avoided getting beaten up on a daily basis as well. Nico would bet his entire Mythomagic collection that if Will wasn’t there to get Cecil out of trouble, Cecil would live in the nurse’s office.

Another plus of being part of this friend group was Will’s mother, Naomi, who took it upon herself to drive them all to school in her minivan. Supposedly it was used, but it was in really good condition, minus a few scratches along the silver paint. It seated six people in the back and two people in the front, and also had a trunk big enough for a big dog crate. She always brought these breakfast muffins with her for everyone and a juice carton so they could snack on the way to school while listening to the radio. Even though she was a lot bubblier and more talkative than Nico’s mum had been, something about her reminded Nico of his own mother. Or maybe all mothers had this particular air around them in some way. It kind of made him feel bittersweet when he was in her presence, listening to her talk to them all in turn, as though they were all her kids. Although Nico had known her for less than a month, he could already tell she had a kind heart.

The drive was a perfect excuse to text Cagnetto as well on the way to school while everyone was engrossed in talking to ‘mama Solace’ as they called her. Even Hazel didn’t side glance because she was so engrossed with mama Solace and the friend group, so Nico could sit and smile dumbly to himself all he wanted. Obviously, his phone needed to be on silent to not get caught, but it was kind of thrilling.

He created a rhythm relatively fast. Instead of going to an official therapist, he decided to set up sessions with Mr. Brunner in his Friday free period.

Mr. Brunner was a kindly man, with grey-streaked brown hair and smile wrinkles around his eyes. He sat in a wheelchair and always wore a brown tweed jacket with patches on the elbows. He offered tea and coffee, as well as vegan, gluten and sugar free cookies for his sessions, and had a million packs of large tissues if people were to cry. Whenever Nico came for guidance counselling, Mr. Brunner would boot up his laptop and find out appropriate fliers for whatever issue Nico was having, but if he came to Mr. Brunner with personal issues, the laptop was put in the top drawer, and instead Mr. Brunner wrote notes by hand and stacked them away in Nico’s student folder for safe keeping. If anyone were to break into Mr. Brunner’s office, they could find dirt on any student. But since everyone seemed to go to Mr. Brunner for personal issues, Nico couldn’t see who would want to do that, since they’d also have to expose themselves to not look suspicious.

In homeroom, maths, and biology Nico had found comfort in sitting next to Will, and they worked surprisingly well together. They also had a similar humour, and often insulted each other for laughs. Nico couldn’t remember the last time he clicked this well with someone. Well, at least not in real life.

Lou Ellen was in his history class and was quite vocal about her stance on witch burnings and women’s rights. Sometimes her passion got her in trouble, and she’d supposedly gotten a handful detentions since sophomore year for arguing with the teacher.

Nico shared chemistry class with Cecil, and that was a whole other issue, because Cecil was not just mischievous, but he was also incredibly good in chemistry. He knew just about anything about any chemical on the periodic table, and he knew just which ones to mix if he wanted an exciting explosion. Nico hadn’t seen him do anything quite that outlandish yet, but there was this shimmer in his eyes that made Nico feel like he worked incredibly hard to hold himself back from making bombs as his graded projects. His mouth also ran a mile a minute in chemistry class, but Nico was quite glad he allowed Nico to be part of his group, which now had four members after Nico joined them. Even if he spoke fast, he explained things well, so Nico started seeing an improvement in his understanding of chemistry.

After a month, Nico felt a bit better about New York, and more settled in. Talking to Mr. Brunner helped with the worst of the alienation and homesickness, while talking to Cagnetto eased the loss of Bianca. There was still a long way to go, he knew, but he could tell how far he’d come in just a month. He was beginning to be more alert and more aware. His energy was coming back a bit, and he even found himself smiling more than usual.

In one of his Monday free periods, he decided to stroll into the library to get some reading done for his English class. They were reading Lord of the Flies, and Nico had bumped into some words he hadn’t seen or heard before. He’d tried some of the strategies for new words Mr. Brunner told him about once, where he tried looking at the context around the word' to see if he could figure out what it might mean. Many of the words, he felt he had a good idea about, but still, he thought he ought to look them up just in case. Especially these handful of words he could not figure out, even with the context around them.

The library was overlooked by an excitable lady with wild red hair named Ella. She had this habit of reciting lines and dates from various books, and it had thrown Nico off for a hot moment first time he experienced it. Luckily, Will came with him to the library first time he went and told him not to worry about it. It made it much easier to communicate with Ella when he was prepared for her barrage of knowledge.

The library stretched over four rooms upstairs. 210, 211, 213, and 214. It was decorated with rows and rows of shelves, reaching from the floor to the ceiling. In each corner stood a short ladder for people to use to reach books on higher shelves, and Nico was glad he didn’t need those quite yet. Most of the top books seemed to be reference books for final graduation assignments, so he mostly saw the seniors using those ladders, although Will had used one once to get a medical book down for something.

He weaved his way through the shelves, looking for the language department and found an English-Italian dictionary. It seemed newish, but also well used. Its spine was faded and worn. He took it and strolled to the far end of the library where a staircase led upstairs to the study section. Though the school officially had two floors, the library stretched up to a third floor. Nico enjoyed the way it was planned out when it got built. It was nice to have the study section above the book section, so you wouldn’t get disturbed while reading because people were browsing for books, or asking for books.

Almost all tables were empty, so Nico could have sat anywhere, but Will’s blond hair caught his attention. He was sat in the far corner, near a window, the light streaming in from outside. It was overcast today, so his hair didn’t get that golden-red hue it usually got when the sun hit it. Instead, it got a more dull, brown-blond hue, that didn’t look any less good on him.

Nico shifted his weight and watched for a while longer. His bag pack tossed over one shoulder, the dictionary firm in his hand. His phone buzzed in his pocket. Deciding he didn’t want to sit alone if he didn’t have to, he went over to Will’s table and cleared his throat quietly.

Will looked up and met his eyes. Their math book was in front of him, his notebook open with all his calculations.

“Hey,” he smiled.

“Hey.” Nico greeted. He nodded to the chair across from Will. “Is it okay if I sit?”

“Sure.” Will gave him a smile and put his head in his hand. He looked over the math homework they’d gotten today, a wrinkle between his brows, a subtle frown on his face.

Nico put the dictionary on the table, found out his tablet, and opened up OneNote. He found the file for Lord of Flies he’d made, and created a new tab for the last two chapters to gather notes about what happened, as well as the character development, and to translate the few words he’d had an issue understanding properly.

Nico prepared to look up the words, then remembered his phone. It probably wouldn’t hurt to look just a little bit. He fished out his phone, a smile finding his face. Cagnetto didn’t usually text much during the day because of classes, and the same went for Nico, but it was nice to try and find time for each other. After all, Cagnetto was usually the first person Nico said good morning to, and the last he said good night to. Although they’d become a lot flirtier lately, he wasn’t sure they were a thing as such. They were more in that odd space between friendship and something more, and it was a bit terrifying to Nico, because he still hadn’t had the courage to ask what Cagnetto looked like, or ask to meet him in real life, or even to call him. He worried Cagnetto might have build an image of him in his head, and that Nico wasn’t going to live up to it. What if he had done that too about Cagnetto without knowing? The only thing he could think of when he thought about Cagnetto, outside of how crazy his heart got when they texted, were stuffed animals. Plush dogs and giant teddy bears.

He discreetly fished out his phone under the table while Will engrossed himself in his maths homework. He looked at the phone and frowned a bit.

_[Cagnetto - 12:50pm] Today_ _’s been a bit rough. I haven’t told anyone yet, but my mum and I started doing family therapy sessions on Sundays. We had our first session yesterday, and today I’ve been feeling really down. I probably excused myself to the bathroom a million times to cry, and I swear everyone can tell_

 _[Me - 1pm] I_ _’m sorry to hear that. I have free period until 1:45 if you want to talk? If you can?_

Nico pocketed his phone and started working, his head swirling with images of Cagnetto. A faceless silhouette with tear streaked cheeks and blood shot eyes. It had his skin crawling with discomfort and he wanted, more than anything, to be able to hug him and comfort him. It was absurd to feel like a horrible friend over this.

Will sniffled across from him. He looked up discreetly, and saw Will rubbing at his eyes with one hand while the other was under the table. Will hadn’t seemed to feel too good today either, come to think of it, and Nico was so busy worrying about Cagnetto that he hadn’t been there for Will either. He really wasn’t that good of a friend, period.

He looked at his tablet, his unopened book, and the dictionary. He let out a sigh and packed his book and tablet down again.

“Will?” he asked carefully.

Will wiped aggressively at his eyes and looked up, pulling the hand under the table closer to himself, as if he was hiding something. Nico’s phone vibrated in his pocket.

His hand automatically went to it, ready to fish out his phone and be there for Cagnetto, but what about Will then? Will, who was right across of him and looked like he needed a friend right now, more than anything in the world.

“Do you…” Nico hesitated. “Do you want to talk about what’s going on? You’ve seemed a bit down today.”

That made Will break down in silent tears, and Nico made a decision right then and there. Cagnetto probably had friends who could physically comfort him and be there for him. Nico could do little over text right now, and he had another friend who really needed him right now. He left his chair and sat at Will’s side, and although Nico wasn’t the best with words, and not the biggest fan of physical contact, he gave Will a hug and held him close. He shushed him gently while rubbing circles on his back.

“It’s just so hard,” Will sobbed.

“I know.” Nico shushed. He’d lost a parent too, except unlike Will, he could never see his mother again, but he understood the sting of that loss.

“I thought I wouldn’t care. That it wouldn’t hurt. But it does. It really fucking hurts. And I miss him so much.”

Nico let Will cry on his shoulder and soak his clothes. He let him curl his hands into the fabric and wrinkle one of his favourite T’s. It didn’t matter.

Nico contemplated telling Will about his mum. He didn’t like talking about her, but maybe Will needed someone who understood that sting to talk to. “You know. When I was ten, my mum died. She got a heart attack out of nowhere, and no one could say what happened or why. She just died. And it hurt. It hurt more than anything I’ve ever felt.”

Will sniffled in his shirt, not saying anything. That was fine with Nico. Will didn’t need to say anything more than he already had if he didn’t want to.

Nico put his nose in Will’s hair, copying the way his mother and Bianca used to comfort him. “It takes time to get over. So much time. The pain comes in waves. One day you’re okay, the next you just want to stay in bed and cry and not deal with anything.” This made Will snort in his T-shirt. “What helped for me was that I had the rest of my family still, like you have your mum still. And I had friends who tried to help me through the pain, like you do. I understand you don’t want to talk too much about it because it’s taken hard on you, but it does help. Even if it’s just one person you talk to in your friend group, it helps a lot. Then you feel less alone. Like there’s someone there to help carry the burden.”

Will’s breaths calmed down as Nico stroked his back and his hair, holding him tight. It was odd to notice, but Will smelled really good. Like lemon juice and summer breeze. His hair was also really soft and tickled Nico’s nose.

“I just want the pain to go away,” Will mumbled.

“I know. And it will. But it takes time, and you need to let it take that time.”

Will nodded in his shirt, holding onto Nico while his breath calmed down. He seemed fragile in that moment, and Nico could empathise with him for not wanting to appear like this in front of his friends who would worry and look at him with _those_ eyes — eyes full of pity — when he also wanted normalcy. It was how Nico had felt after losing his mother, and after losing Bianca, and before the move. Back then, everyone had walked on eggshells around him, and he wished he’d had just one person who could take it a bit more in stride. Maybe, Nico could be that person for Will.

His heart raced when he suggested a solution. “Do you want to skip school for the rest of the day?”

Will wiped his eyes and leaned back on his chair. His eyes were blood shot and his undereye area looked red and irritated from all the rubbing.

“We’re not off until two thirty.”

“So?”

“We’ll miss two classes.”

“Yes?”

Will’s lips quivered and turned into a smile. “I’ve never played hooky before.”

Nico raised his brow. “Hooky?”

“Skipped class.” Will laughed.

“I don’t usually skip either. It’s just… I don’t know. It seems like you might need it?” Nico wasn’t sure why he finished his sentence as though it was a question.

Will smiled at him, his eyes shimmering in the light, and Nico’s heart skipped a beat, just for his chest to grow tight. What was he doing feeling attracted to Will when he was maybe, sort of flirting with Cagnetto?

“You know,” Will said. “I think I might need it today. But let’s not make a habit out of it. I’m trying to get into a medical school here.”

Nico rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. But before you can do that, you need to stop being such a mess.”

Will scoffed. “Me? A mess? Have you seen your shirt?”

“And whose fault is that?” Nico dead-panned, no real bite to his words.

Will at least looked a little sheepish and guilty. “Sorry. I’ll get you a new one.”

“Good. Where do you want to go?”

Will thought for a moment while packing up his stuff. Then his smile widened. “There’s this mall close by that got a new gelato store. I haven’t tried it yet, but it’s supposed to be authentic.”

Nico’s lips twitched. “We’ll see about that. As an Italian myself, I have standards when it comes to gelato.”

They stood up, preparing to leave.

“Did you know that ice cream and gelato are different?” Will asked.

Nico wrinkled his nose. “Of course I do.”

“I never knew until one of my friends told me.”

“That is unacceptable, Solace. If it’s authentic, you’ll learn today. Gelato is superior to ice cream.”

Will laughed and shouldered his bag, Nico did the same.

“Well, I’m looking forward to trying it then,” Will shoved him with his elbow.

Nico gave him a wry smile and motioned for him to go ahead. His pocket was burning, and he’d be lying if he said he didn’t feel guilty for leaving Cagnetto hanging, but he couldn’t put his full attention into looking out for two different people. He would get back to Cagnetto when he got home.


	9. Playing hooky

Nico had expected them to be busted ages ago. They went as far as going to their lockers before leaving to get all their stuff with them, and neither of them were old enough to drive yet, so they made a run for it once they were outside the school building.

Nico’s lungs were screaming, and his body was buzzing with adrenaline, his heart high in his chest. His hands were shaking, and he found himself let out short bursts of laughter as he ran, Will laughing right beside him.

Nico was not one to break the rules. Not if he could help it. This was the first time he had ever done something like this, and his body was buzzing on high alert; almost like he was getting electrified.

Despite the distance, they kept going, only slowing down to a jog — never to a walk — until they reached the mall, where they found an empty bench and collapsed onto it, panting and wheezing. They must have looked like an odd pair. Two teen boys with bag packs slung over them, wearing summer clothes, beads of sweat tricking down their foreheads and necks.

After what felt like an eternity, Nico straightened up, and so did Will. They looked at each other for all of three seconds before they both burst out laughing, doubling over themselves. Nico’s eyes started tearing up, and the air left him quicker than he could breathe. He wondered if he looked like a stranded fish, trying to gulp down air the way he was, almost choking as his sound died and all that came out was a wheeze.

After having spent their final resources, Nico sat, dizzy on the bench, Will next to him. He was leaned back in his seat, taking deep breaths. His face was beet red, but slowly regained its usual colour. Nico figured he probably didn’t look much different.

“I’m thirsty,” Will proclaimed.

Nico hummed in agreement, too tired to stand. He looked in his phone cover to make sure he had his debit card — his father had gotten him one during summer break. It was there, safe and sound.

Will leaned over. “Woah! You have a credit card?”

“Debit,” Nico corrected. “But yeah. My dad got it for me and puts some money in every month. Both me and my sister have one.”

Will sighed whimsically. “Man. All I have is cash from doing chores for people.”

“You don’t have a bank account?”

“I do. My parents made one for me when I was a baby. A savings account. It’s for college and for when I want to move out. So I get some odd jobs on the side, walking dogs, mowing lawns, cleaning houses. But I haven’t gotten a card yet, so I use a piggy bank and keep some cash on me for emergencies. Such as this.”

Nico raised his eyebrow. “Skipping school is an emergency?”

“It is when you go to a mall,” Will smiled. “Anyway. I’m parched. Wanna get some water?”

“Please,” Nico groaned, standing up with Will. “You lead the way; this is my first time being here.”

“Really? I go here with Cecil and Lou Ellen all the time. They have _the best_ arcade.”

Nico chuckled, shaking his head. Why did it not surprise him that Will and his friends were into arcades? Nico couldn’t remember the last time he had been to one, only that he had enjoyed it.

Will led the way to a kiosk where they got themselves some water and Nico bought them some Nerds to share, because he didn’t think he’d tried them before. Will said they were good though. They went back to the bench, tossing their bags at their feet, sharing the Nerds and downing their water greedily. Nico imagined this was what the earth must feel like when it rained after a long drought.

Will stood up, and Nico followed as Will led the way through the store to this new gelato place of his. It was almost empty in the mall, only a few grown-ups or elderly people milling about to do their daily grocery shopping. Nico quite liked it, since he wasn’t a big fan of large crowds. At a Subway table sat a couple other teenagers eating sandwiches and hitting on one of the girls. They looked a couple years older than Will and Nico — maybe 17 — so Nico assumed they were skipping school as well. He rolled his eyes and shook his head at them, continuing on with Will who seemed oblivious to the whole thing. He walked at a brisk pace with a smile on his face, although his eyes were still slightly red. Nico was glad he’d somehow managed to cheer Will up. He should check up on Cagnetto while they had their gelato, if he got the opportunity.

They went into the little shop. It had a sign announcing its name: _Gelato Italiano Authentico_.

Nico couldn’t help but give a snort at the name, but shrugged it off and went inside. It was a cosy little shop with white round tables, and white garden chairs, covered in soft-looking seat cushions. The walls were a soft, cream-colour with a pink undertone, the counter a pastel violet, and the chair’s cushions and tablecloths a pastel mint. Large light bulbs hung freely from the ceiling on black string, a gentle orange glow coming from them. It gave the shop a homey, cosy feel. A few green plants were littered throughout the store to create atmosphere, and black-and-white photos from various places in Italy were meticulously placed around the walls. On the store radio, some accordion music was playing; the stereotypical kind of music played in cartoons whenever someone went to Italy. Nico was almost surprised they weren’t playing Luciano Pavarotti’s _‘O sole mio_. That would really have been the cherry on top to make it super stereotypical.

Still, he was glad they had Italian folk music playing, even if it was on the accordion. Although, seeing the few images of Venice scattered around on the walls, paired with the music and the general feel of the store, made him feel a little homesick.

Will smiled at him and led the way to the counter. Behind the counter, the store’s prices were listed in neat handwriting on chalk boards. They did as many as five scoops, in cones, in cups, and in bubble cones? What the heck were bubble cones?

Nico looked curiously around, until he saw something that looked like ice cream cones, but with bubbles in them. That answered that question, then, not that Nico was sure he’d ever seen them before. Authentic Italian? Yeah, right.

He looked in the cooler where the gelato flavours were stored. They seemed to have the right consistency when looking at them, and the proper colour. He read off some of the flavours and was immediately drawn to one in particular. Will stood beside him, letting out a little hum of finality.

“Have you decided what you want?”

Nico nodded. “A cup with two scoops. One pistachio, one stracciatella.”

Will let out another hum. “I was thinking of a cone, but maybe a cup would be better. I’m really curious about that watermelon flavour. The strawberry one looks pretty good as well.”

Nico hummed. “Go for it.”

They went up to the counter where a young woman greeted them. She looked to be in her early twenties, and she had a bit of an accent when she spoke. It sounded like that stereotypical Italian accent every Italian seemed to have on TV.

“Buongiorno. How may I help you?”

Will smiled at her, and said buongiorno back, except he had a horrible American accent. “I would like one of those cups with two scoops. One watermelon, one strawberry flavour.”

“Certo,” she replied. She started scooping with expert movements, handing Will his little cup with the pastel violet and mint stripes. “That’ll be five dollars, per fervore.”

Nico was kind of starting to get annoyed by her. Even though she looked like she might be from Italy, or have some Italian in her genes, she seemed to try too hard to sound authentic. Maybe Nico was just being sour, because the shop reminded him of Venetian shops, so he guessed it was authentic enough to tug at his heart strings.

“Next, please.” She gave him a smile, and Nico gave her a challenging look. “How may I help you?”

He decided to test her by ordering in Italian. “Ciao, _I_ _’d also like a cup with two scoops. One stracciatella, one pistachio, please_.”

Her smile seemed to brighten until it was all teeth, and she replied to him in perfect Italian. “ _Most certainly. Are you from Italy?_ ”

“Sì.”

“ _Where abouts in Italy?_ "

“Venezia.” Nico looked down, suddenly ashamed for having the audacity to question whether or not this woman was Italian, just because she happened to have an accent, unlike Nico.

“ _I_ _’m from Florence_.” She smiled, scooping his ice cream with expert movement. She switched back to English. “Here you go. That’ll be five dollars, per fervore.”

Nico ran his card through the card reader and sat down with Will at a small table. Will had been smiling at him this whole time, seemingly biting his tongue. When they sat down, he was practically rocking in his seat, and Nico raised his eyebrow and gave him a look.

“What is it?”

“I’ve never heard you speak Italian before. You seemed a lot more lively.”

Nico looked down at his gelato and blushed. “I thought she was faking it, so I tested her.”

“Oh,” Will’s smile faded. “Well. It still sounded pretty cool. It almost sounded like you were singing.”

Nico scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Just eat your gelato, Solace.”

Will smiled, and tried to pronounce gelato like Nico had, but couldn’t get it quite right. His A was too soft and long, his T too harsh, but he seemed pleased none the less. Nico gave him half a smile, and dug into his gelato, the taste immediately bringing back memories of summer walks along the Venetian streets and tourists taking cheesy gondola rides, paying extra to have their gondolier sing to them. Tears rolled down his cheeks without his permission, while Will hummed as though he was in heaven.

“Oh my Lord, this is so good,” Will sighed.

Nico hummed his agreement, taking another bite, letting the tears flow and mix salt into his gelato. He had found it. The place that brought Venice and New York together. Or maybe it was Italy and New York. Regardless, Nico decided then and there that this was his favourite place in the world and that he would probably become a regular here.

“You okay?” Will asked, a worried expression on his face.

Nico put his spoon in his cup and hastily wiped his eyes. “No, it’s nothing. I just got reminded of home.”

“So, it’s the real deal?” Will asked excitedly.

Nico nodded. “Yeah, it’s the real deal.”

They kept eating, and Nico allowed Will to have a taste of his scoops. Will let Nico have a taste of his as well, even though Nico already knew what they tasted like. They made idle talk as they ate, the shop’s speakers playing its lively accordion. They decided it was high time they friended each other on Facebook, and laughed together, and Nico felt light and free. Like he could float away and never worry about anything ever again. They agreed they should bring Cecil, Lou Ellen, and Hazel next time. This time, however, the place was theirs, and there was nowhere Nico would rather be in this moment than right here with Will Solace.

* * *

His dad looked at him disapprovingly when he came home, and Nico had the decency to slouch and look guilty.

Obviously, the school had called his and Will’s parents, and they’d both had to fess up about skipping school to go eat gelato. Nico’s dad sat him down in his room, Nico sat on his bed with his hands in his lap, his father sitting on his desk chair, looking regal.

“You’re skipping school now?”

Nico shuffled in his seat. “I won’t do it again.”

“Look at me when you speak to me.”

Nico looked up into his father’s disappointed eyes. “It was going so well, Nico. If you were having a bad day, you could have told me so we could have agreed on letting you do half a day. Instead, you and that Solace boy just up and disappeared.”

“Will,” Nico said.

“Pardon?” Dean’s eyes got a dangerous gleam.

“His name is Will, Dad, and he was the one having a rough time. I don’t want to go into detail, because it’s confidential, but he’s going through something rough right now, and he was crying. So I offered to leave early to get his mind on something else, and he took me to this gelato store in the mall. That’s all.”

“That’s all?” His father looked displeased. “Nico, that is not all. The two of you had us worried when we couldn’t find you. Even if you meant it well, you should never leave just like that. What if something had happened to you?”

Nico looked down again, a bit irritated. He was fifteen, not a child! He could take care of himself, especially with his friends by his side. They just went and ate gelato, and then went straight home after. Nothing more, nothing less. Nico knew better than to take the argument further, though.

He looked up and met Dean’s eyes. “I’m sorry, Dad. It won’t happen again.”

“If it does, at least text me, or your sister, or _someone_ so we know.”

Nico nodded in understanding.

“Good,” his father stood. “You’ll be grounded over the weekend, expected to do chores to make up for this.”

Nico hung his head, biting his cheeks. “Understood.”

His father left, and Nico waited for a minute or two before letting out a low groan of frustration, leaning back in his bed. He fished out his phone and opened his Facebook messenger, starting a message thread with Will.

_[Mi - Al momento] My dad grounded me because we skipped._

_[Will Solace - Al momento] Same_

_[Will Solace - Al momento] Though my mum said to thank you for cheering me up, even if she doesn’t want us to do something like that again_

_[Will Solace - Al momento] She said to go to Mr. Brunner next time I’m having a hard time_

_[Mi - Al momento] Sometimes it’s just not enough._

_[Will Solace - Al momento] Yeah. Sometimes you just need to eat ice cream with a good friend to cheer up_

_[Mi - Al momento] Gelato._

_[Will Solace - Al momento] Right. My bad_ 😛

Nico smiled at the message, scrolling out of his Facebook messenger app, and staring at the little WhatsApp notification. He still hadn’t gotten back to Cagnetto. A weight of guilt pulled at his stomach.

_[Cagnetto - 1.02pm] Not right now. A friend is here. Don’t wanna cry in front of them_

Somehow, that message made Nico feel both simultaneously better and worse about not getting back to Cagnetto. Hopefully he was holding up again.

Nico’s clicked on the message box, preparing to type, when three dots started moving in the bottom, and a few moments later, a message from Cagnetto came through.

_[Cagnetto - 4.15pm] You were right. Gelato is better_

_[Cagnetto - 4.15pm] Just had it for the first time today_

Nico smiled at the message, typing a reply.

_[Mi - 4.16pm] Was it authentic?_

_[Cagnetto - 4.16pm] Definitely. Vouched for and approved by an Italian_

_[Mi - 4.16pm] Glad to have you educated._

_[Cagnetto - 4.17pm] Maybe I should take you sometime_ 😉

Nico’s heart skipped a beat and his face heated up while butterflies took flight in his stomach. Was this a proposal to meet? Would it be safe to meet? After all, Cagnetto could still be lying, though Nico doubted it.

_[Mi - 4.19pm] Maybe._

That was the only reply he gave before leaning back in his bed, staring at his ceiling. Maybe he really should get around to meeting Cagnetto some day. He wondered what kind of person Cagnetto thought he was. For that matter, what kind of person did Nico even think Cagnetto was?

He closed his eyes, not sure he had an answer, but deciding he should think it more over before giving a final answer.


	10. Conflicting feelings

Hazel wanted to host a Halloween party. It was going to be a small thing with just her closest friends, which included Frank, Lou Ellen, Cecil, Will, Jason, Reyna, plus some of their friends, if they wanted. Nico had seen the guest list of the Facebook event growing, people always PM’ing Hazel before inviting their friends. Now, the list included Jason’s sister Thalia, his girlfriend Piper, and a mutual friend of theirs, Leo, plus his girlfriend, Calypso, another friend of Jason’s, Percy, Percy’s girlfriend, Annabeth, and Percy’s friend Grover. And of course, Nico and Hazel themselves.

Even though not all of them had replied, they were all invited, and Hazel had had the decency to close down the option to invite more people. Nico thought that was a good idea.

Truth be told, though, Nico didn’t really want to do a Halloween party. He just wanted a chance to relax in the midst of homework and assignments picking up because the half-term was coming to an end, and winter exams would be soon. Nico did not have time to party, because he figured he needed to at least brush over the things they’d learnt in sophomore year, which he wasn’t there for. But since Hazel hosted it — approved by their father as long as there was no alcohol — it seemed Nico had no choice in the matter.

Will seemed pretty excited about it, talking about bringing a pumpkin pie because mama Solace had a killer recipe. This brightened the mood and the buzz significantly amongst the friend group, until everyone was talking about bringing a little something to eat or snack on, even though Dean and Stephanie were more than happy to provide.

Nico and Will walked side by side to their math class, when Nico let out a sigh and decided to lament his misery.

“I want to study for exams so I can do well.”

Will looked at him, worry edging into his brows. “You usually get good marks. I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”

“But what if something comes up from sophomore year and I won’t know? I want to know I did my best.”

He groaned and Will gave him an apathetic look.

“You know, since biology is cancelled today, do you want to spend the time revising together in the library?”

Nico looked at him with grateful eyes. He imagined he probably gave Will a look as though he hung the stars, and in a way he did.

It was simple and easy being around Will, compared to the confusion he got around Cagnetto. Nico and Cagnetto hadn’t really brought up meeting again since Nico gave that vague answer to what may or may not have been an invitation to an authentic gelato store. He just couldn’t shake that feeling of dread in his stomach that once they actually met, it would be super awkward because they’d flirted so much, and there was so much to live up to in person. Nico didn’t want to disappoint Cagnetto, and he didn’t want to be disappointed. Even though they’d been talking for the better of four months, and flirting for about two months, Nico could still not find the courage to take the plunge, and Cagnetto seemed to avoid the issue just as much. They never even as much as joked about meeting, but the flirting stayed the same. Heated and vibrant, and it made Nico’s head dance and his heart beat a rhythm. When they said good night, however, he would feel empty and hollow. Like someone was scorching his heart.

It was easier with Will, because Will was real and there. Nico tried not to admit his feelings for Will, because they swept him sideways with guilt and made him squeamish and uncomfortable in his own skin.

“Are you sure?” Nico asked. “You must be worried too.”

Will shrugged. “Winter exams are more a mid-way evaluation than anything. It’s the summer exams you want to worry about the most.”

“Wouldn’t you need a pretty good GPA to get to medical school, though?”

Will glanced sideways, his smiled twitching. “I have two more years to improve, and my marks are overall pretty good. I get a lot of B’s, so I’m not too worried.”

Nico grunted. “I keep getting C’s in English because my writing apparently isn’t that good. I think it’s fine.”

“Who’s your English teacher?”

“Mrs. Dodds. I have her in both maths and English, and she’s even worse in English than she is in maths.”

Will shivered, his face growing pale. “Is that even possible?”

“I swear, she’s out to get me. I compared my writing with one of my classmates who got B-, and we both made the same points and had similar grammar.”

Will shuddered. “I luckily haven’t been on her list yet. Everyone warns about her. She’s only nasty to you if you try to challenge her authority.”

Nico let out a frustrated groan. “Well, when she’s asking us to read and interpret stuff, she can’t expect everyone to find the points she does, can she? Of course we’ll disagree slightly.”

Will let out a short huff of a laugh. “Hopefully, you’ll have another English teacher next year and just have to hold out for now.”

“Hopefully.” Nico muttered, taking his seat alongside Will. “But I wouldn’t mind if we started using some of our free periods and cancelled classes to revise together. Maybe we could meet up on some of the weekends too?”

Will cracked his neck. “Sounds good to me. There’s this café for studying with really good food and drinks near my house. We can go there if you want.”

Nico fished up his things and smiled at Will. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

Will smiled back and made butterflies play tag in Nico’s stomach. He really was starting to have a serious issue here.

* * *

Nico and Will got into their new rhythm seamlessly, leaving little room to text Cagnetto much. Obviously, Nico hadn’t just up and disappeared, he explained to Cagnetto he’d be busy studying for midterm exams, and apologised for not being as much in touch the next few weeks. Cagnetto said it was okay, that he was busy too with midterm exams, and so, Cagnetto had fallen a bit more to the back of Nico’s mind, though never completely gone.

Once, during lunch, Will let it slip he and Nico had started revising quite a bit, and that was how Nico found himself suddenly having a study group. Hazel had another group of her own because she was a year below them, so the group was Nico, Will, Cecil, and Lou Ellen. They communicated via Facebook messenger about when to set up meetings and telling when one of them couldn’t make it. They shared their notes between each other, but still took some time in between to goof around and laugh together. They complained about Mrs. Dodds and some of the other teachers together, until they remembered why they were all there and got back to it.

All that studying and revising left Nico constantly tired; his head heavy with led. Despite that, he felt good. He was convinced he was prepared for midterm, and so, the upcoming Halloween party bothered him less as time went on, because he was on track for a good exam. He would even say he felt confident about it, all thanks to his friends; especially Will who kept casting him these secretive glances that had Nico’s cheeks flushing with heat.

He always made sure to catch up with Cagnetto when he was home, but when he was in school, he found he got more and more touchy with Will. They found excuses to hang out together outside classes, and to sit close together during classes and study sessions. Their shoulders or legs always seemed to touch in some way, and there was something in the way they spoke together when they were alone that had Nico’s pulse racing. They sent each other glances and secretive smiles, and more than once Nico had caught Will licking or softly biting his lips, while his eyes flicked to Nico’s lips. Nico might have done the same a number of times, his insides on fire, just to tie into a knot when he came home and flirted just as much with Cagnetto, his heart racing just as wildly.

* * *

Hazel's Halloween party was two weeks away, and Will came to school looking defeated. Nico couldn’t help but cast him worried glances every once in a while, but he tried not to do it too much, understanding what that felt like all too well. Instead, he went about the day as normally as possible with Will, who despite his obvious sad mood tried to smile.

It wasn’t until third period Will pulled Nico aside. Nico gave him a curious look while Will looked around, motioning for Nico to follow him. Despite not having a free period or a cancelled class, Nico followed Will up into the library, and further up to the study section. It was empty in here safe for a handful of seniors tugged away in a corner, the table littered with reference and schoolbooks as they all sat hunched over in concentration. Will dragged Nico to the opposite end, dragging him down in the chair next to him, their backs to the seniors so they couldn’t read their lips.

“What’s up?” Nico asked, making sure to keep his voice low.

“I feel like crap.” Will muttered, putting his head in his hands.

Nico had to fight the urge to say _you don_ _’t say so_ , and instead made himself useful by rubbing circles on Will’s back.

“You want to talk about it?”

Will groaned into his hands and rubbed at his eyes angrily. He shook his head. “I need to figure this out on my own. It’s also kind of long.”

Nico could respect that. He couldn’t see himself talking to anyone about his conflicted feelings for Cagnetto and Will. It made him feel like an absolute ass hole. Like he was playing around with two people’s feelings. Maybe, in a way, he was. Will didn’t know he was also flirting with Cagnetto, and Cagnetto didn’t know he was also flirting with Will.

Nico had never considered himself indecisive. Not once. Until now when he was pulling two people along, always feeling guilty about it, but too wrapped up in the excitement to stop himself.

“Maybe you could talk to Mr. Brunner then?”

Will shook his head again. “I think I’d rather talk to my mum.” He sank into the table. “Maybe I should skip today.”

Nico rubbed his back easily. “Just remember to let the office know.”

Will nodded and looked into Nico’s eyes, his own eyes so tired and defeated Nico wished he could do something, but he didn’t want to push Will to talk about something he didn’t want to.

“Will you come with me?” Will asked.

Nico nodded. “Yeah, sure.”

He followed Will to the office and waited outside while Will went to announce his absence for the day. After he came out, he gave Nico a weak smile, and had him escort him to the parking lot.

They stood side by side, leaning slightly into each other, the back of their hands touching. Neither made a move to get some space between them.

Nico worried his lower lip between his teeth and looked at Will

“Midterms are coming up. Try not to stay home too long. If you want, I can share my notes with you until you feel better.”

Will smiled at him, reached out, and squeezed his hands. Nico’s heart skiped a beat, and he was quite sure he was blushing. He squeezed Will’s hand back, and neither let go while they waited for mama Solace.

It felt like they had officially crossed a boundary, and Nico’s stomach was shifting between floating and burning. He wanted to text Cagnetto to break it off, but the thought had his heart sinking, then he considered telling Will they shouldn’t be doing this because he’s flirting with someone else, but couldn't get himself to upset Will further.

It was probably all excuses. Even if he wouldn't admit it, it might very well be. Excuses to keep stringing them both along like the lowly human he was.

Mama Solace’s silver van came into view, and Will turned to Nico, giving his hand a squeeze. Nico turned his body and gave half a smile to Will, whose eyes seemed to look for something he wasn’t sure of.

“It’s okay if you tell the others I went home because I wasn’t feeling mentally well.”

Nico nodded.

“Can I hug you?”

Nico nodded again. Will leaned in and pulled Nico into his arms, holding him close and burying his head in Nico’s shoulder. Nico hugged him back, clutching at his shirt, not wanting to let go. He wanted to tell Will so badly about Cagnetto and his own confused feelings, but a part of him was terrified Will would think he was an awful person.

“See you, Nico,” Will muttered in his ear.

Nico breath in his scent, giving him a final squeeze. “See you, Will. Take care.”

Will put him at an arm’s length, giving his shoulders a short squeeze, then he turned on his heels and went into mama Solace’s car.

* * *

Nico had just come in the door after school, tossing himself onto his bed, when his phone pinged.

_[Cagnetto - 5pm] We need to meet. For real. How’s your schedule for Thanksgiving break?_

Nico stared, his ears buzzing, his heart vibrating painfully.

_[Me - 5:02pm] I don’t think I have any plans._

_[Cagnetto - 5:03pm] Good. If you can, let’s meet Saturday, November 21st, at this Star Bucks_

He attached a photo of a street name. Nico knew where that was. His study group had gone there a few times to study.

_[Cagnetto - 5:04pm] Let’s not send any pics. I want to see you for the first time that day. Just tell me what you’ll be wearing, and I’ll do the same. I really want to meet you_

Nico looked at the text, tears trickling down his cheeks. Not because he didn’t want to meet Cagnetto, but because he wasn’t sure what to do about the whole thing. It felt surreal, and even though he knew he liked Cagnetto, he also knew he liked Will, and the only fair thing to do would be to let either one of them, or both, go to not get overwhelmed by the guilt.

_[Me - 5:06pm] Okay. I don’t have any plans that day. I’ll meet you then. What time?_

_[Cagnetto - 5:07pm] 12 o’clock_

_[Me - 5:08pm] Okay._

_[Cagnetto - 5:08pm] Okay_

Nico turned his phone on silent, locked the screen, and allowed himself to cry. He was in this mess now, and it hurt more than anything he had ever experienced. He just wanted it all to stop, wanted to go back to the time he decided to flirt with either Cagnetto or Will and undo one or both. This was exhausting and unfair to both of them, just because Nico couldn’t make up his mind and was too scared to lose either of them. He really was a coward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally got time to sit down and finish The Tyrant’s Tomb, and it was really good. On a sadder note, I can’t pre-order Tower of Nero, because it doesn’t ship to me this time around. I’m thinking it might be due to Covid, so I guess I’ll just have to wait and order it once it hits Denmark.


	11. Halloween

Luckily for Hazel, Halloween was on a Saturday this year, which meant they could stay up as late as they wanted. Not everyone on her guest list had been able to make it because of other plans, but Nico still felt they were too many people.

Him, Hazel, Lou Ellen, Cecil, Will, and Frank were pretty much a given. The other ones who’d been able to make it was Jason, his girlfriend Piper, their mutual friend Leo, Jason’s friend, Percy, and Percy’s girlfriend, Annabeth. Eleven people were a bit excessive for a small gathering, but still preferable to big parties with a hundred people.

Nico looked everyone over, feeling a bit under dressed in his skeleton kigurumi suit and no make-up. Hazel had gone all out with a super cute witch costume, Lou Ellen had a sorceress costume — Nico was still trying to wrap his head around what the difference was between a witch and a sorceress — Cecil had dressed up as a mad scientist, and Will as a zombie doctor with intestines wrapped loosely around his neck. Frank had put on a red costume full of glitter, insisting they were scales, making him a dragon — Nico couldn’t help but chuckle at that — while Jason and Piper came as a Superman-Wonder Woman duo, and Leo was supposedly dressed as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde; though Nico couldn’t really see it.

Dean and Stephanie mostly spend the time at the party with Jules-Albert in the guest house, leaving the young people to it. Hazel looked like she was in seventh heaven, making sure everyone was good on snacks and drinks, arranging PG-rated party games.

Her latest invention was a three-legged death race around some obstacles she’d put in the garden. She would oversee them as judge and pick out their partners.

Nico rolled his eyes but stood in line none the less as Hazel read the rules out loud.

“For the three-legged death race, you will need to cooperate. You are not allowed to push or trip other teams; it has to be a clean competition. You’ll start with running one round around the pool to create a rhythm before you’re let loose in the rest of the garden. First obstacle is to climb the old, rickety slide set, and slide down the slide. From there, you need to run to Steph’s gazebo, and run though it from right to left, then from top to bottom. After that, you’ll continue to the octagon tiles, where chalk lines are drawn. You have to hop between the chalk lines, and then run back towards the house. When you come back to the pool area, you’ll notice a tarp I put out. You have to stomach crawl across the tarp, and then get up onto the porch. Whoever reaches the porch first, wins. Did everyone understand that?”

There were various yells in the affirmative, and Hazel’s smile widened.

“Don’t worry, I put up signs to guide you in the right direction once you’re out there. Now, for the teams. Jason, you’re running with Percy. Annabeth, you’re running with Piper. Lou Ellen, you’re with Cecil. Will, you’re with Frank. Leo, you’re with Nico. It should match up to you being close in height.”

Nico chewed the side of his lips, glancing at Will. He kind of wished they’d been paired together, but if Hazel matched them from approximate height, it made sense she wouldn’t pair Nico with Will who was a full head taller than Nico. Will went over to Frank and shook his hand, as though he’d never seen him before. He glanced Nico’s way and caught his eyes, sending him a smile. Nico’s heart skipped half a beat, and he couldn’t stop himself from smiling back, heat trickling into his cheeks.

He went over to Leo, who already had a wild look in his eyes. Nico wasn’t sure he liked that look, but he stood by his side none the less.

Leo looked at their competitors and leaned in. He smelled like motor oil for some reason.

“Okay, here’s what we do,” Leo whispered. “We bolt as fast as we can when we get the go-ahead.”

Nico mentally facepalmed. “That definitely won’t work. We’ll topple over if we’re not in sync. I suggest we jog while counting out loud. One for the leg that isn’t tied, two for the leg that is.”

Leo gave a pout, almost like Nico stole something, looking at Nico with a tired look. He sighed.

“Fine.” Leo’s body sank. “But if we sync well, we speed up. I’m not losing to the long-legged people. I mean, just look at Will and Frank. For every one of their steps, we need to take like two.”

“I would say one and a half,” Nico muttered. “But who knows. If Will walks faster than usual to win, it might be two.”

“Exactly! We need to speed walk at the least!”

Nico rolled his eyes. “Fine, fine. But we go in sync. I’m not toppling over to catch up to team long-legs.”

“We’re gonna lose with that attitude.”

“No. We’re gonna stay on our feet with this attitude.”

Hazel called them all to attention, opening the door to the outside. The lamp posts around the garden were lit up, bathing the garden in a gentle, white light. The grass was dewy, and the air was cold. Nico had half a mind to go back for his jacket, but figured he’d get warm trying to run around tied to another person.

She passed around fabric ribbons, long enough to tie their legs together. Leo looked at theirs with a gleam in his eyes and a wicked smile on his face. He bent down to tie it around his left leg and Nico’s right leg, making some kind of knot that probably had a name Nico didn’t know, but it looked like those knots sailors used to doc their boats. A sturdy knot that could take wear and tear but could still be untied with one tug.

“Ready?” Hazel called, a whistle around her neck.

“Ready!” they all yelled. Nico didn’t sound as enthusiastic as everyone else.

“Okay!” Hazel put the whistle to her mouth. “Three, two, one.”

She blew the whistle, and Nico started counting as he and Leo set off. Piper and Annabeth seemed to have a similar strategy to Nico and Leo, muttering under their breath together. Percy and Jason toppled over almost immediately, got up, then toppled a few seconds later. Were those two secretly idiots?

Lou Ellen and Cecil bickered because they couldn’t seem to agree on which leg to lift when, leaving them stranded but at least still standing. Will and Frank wobbled a bit unsure, Will clutching onto Frank’s shirt, Frank tossing his arm over Will’s shoulder to make them more balanced. Nico’s chest got tight with heat over how close they stood, which was ridiculous, because Will didn’t seem to have a thing for Frank, and Frank was dating Hazel. Nico had half a mind to put his own arm around Leo, but he doubted that would end well with the way Leo swung his arms as they made their way around the pool, Nico counting while Leo laughed and laughed.

“Count faster,” Leo wheezed.

Nico obliged, upping the tempo a bit, his feet unsteady below him. Particularly the one that was tied to Leo. They swung dangerously when they rounded the corners of the pool, Leo’s arms almost smacking Nico in the face as he swung them around. He was huffing and puffing, Nico’s body bent back at a weird angle as they walked, but their rhythm was alright.

Will and Frank were immediately in front of them while Annabeth and Piper had gone off, so in sync and agreement they were sure to win, but damn it, if Nico wasn’t aiming for second place. As if he would let Will and Frank have that, just because they had long legs. Nico looked at Leo whose eyes still glimmered with determination and started speeding his counting up just a bit. Leo’s smile grew wild as they sped up and came up next to Will and Frank.

If they didn’t get in front of them before the slide, they might as well admit defeat. Will and Frank were counting too, Nico heard. Will side glanced, his eyes competitive, a crooked smile on his lips, his cheeks pink from the cold — or from straining so hard, Nico couldn’t tell. Nico returned the look, not stopping his counting for even a moment, trying to count louder to throw Will and Frank off their rhythm. He should have expected Will to see right through his strategy and copy it. The slide was closer now. Nico trained his eyes on it, Leo leaning closer to Nico to not lose track of the count he was following.

Nico took a chance and sped up the counting until he and Leo were jogging, jumping onto the ladder to the slide. They slid down, and Nico started counting again, first a bit slower than before, but quickly speeding up when he caught Will and Frank in the corner of his eyes. Leo was breathing heavily, his arms swinging as they sped back up to a jog. To Nico’s surprise, Leo started counting along with him, and they sped up a bit further, almost to a full run. He could hear Will and Frank behind them, trying to catch up to them. Nico and Leo ran awkwardly, slaloming through Stephanie’s gazebo, almost ramming into Will and Frank on their second run through, and continued toward the octagon tiles.

“Stop!” Nico yelled, before they reached the tiles. “We’re hopping on our tied legs. On three. One, two, three!”

They hopped, counted again, and hopped, trying not to let too much time pass between their hops. Annabeth and Piper were already out of the octagons while Will and Frank grunted with the effort of getting their long legs off the ground. Nico and Leo hopped from one outline to the other, until they reached the grass and started counting again, jogging at a fast pace. Nico wished they could sprint, but that would be too risky. Even this fast jog seemed to throw him off centre, and he almost rammed into Leo at a point. Frank and Will had caught up to them with their stupid, long legs, and Nico was seriously _not_ losing to them.

He and Leo reached the tarp, throwing themselves down while continuing their count to keep in sync. Nico was getting lightheaded from the strain, his muscles aching and his lungs burning.

They slid across the tarp, Leo standing up first, pulling Nico up with him, and then he started counting before Nico had a chance to catch his breath. They sped walked while Frank and Will fumbled around on the tarp, and finally reached the porch where Piper and Annabeth stood leaned against the wall, breathing heavily while Hazel untied their legs and handed them water.

Leo promptly sat down once they were safe, almost knocking Nico over. Nico decided to sit as well, gulping down the water Hazel offered him greedily while she untied them with a smile.

Nico’s breath was stinging in his chest and steaming in the air. Next to him, Will and Frank were wheezing and coughing as much as the rest of them.

After Hazel untied them, Nico stretched out his legs and lay down on the porch, determined to never leave again. Leo raised his hand for a fist bump, and Nico obliged, his arm shaking from lacking energy. He looked over at Will, whose face was flushed red. He had half a smile on his face, drinking his water in one go, and lying down. He looked over at Nico, smiling wide. Will started laughing quietly, and even though Nico wasn’t sure what he was laughing about, he couldn’t help but join.

Hazel opened the door to invite them inside for a mini reward show once Percy and Jason came in as the last ones. They were covered in dirt and grass and Percy had a scrape on his left palm.

“Alright,” Hazel smiled. “If we head inside, there’s a mini-award show.”

They all groaned, but stood up, following Hazel inside. Nico mumbled for them to go ahead while he caught his breath, and Will said he’d stay out with him. Will sat up, looking into the sky, while Nico tried to do the same. His eyes flickered over to Will a couple more times than he would like to admit, and he caught Will smiling down at him a few times.

“You and Leo were really fast,” Will said.

Nico let out a short snort. “As if we were going to lose to you, team long-legs.”

Will let out a breathy laugh. “Team long-legs?”

“That’s what we called you the whole time.”

Someone called for them from the inside. Hazel apparently didn’t want to do the mini-award show without them there. Will looked down at Nico with a smile before getting up and offering Nico a hand.

Nico took it, noticing how warm Will’s palm was. Will pulled him up without trouble, a bit more forcefully than he needed to, sending Nico tripping into his chest.

“Whoops.” Will laughed, steadying Nico by putting his hands on his shoulders. “You alright?”

Nico looked up at him, his heart picking up its pace, his face heating up. He bit down a smile, his thoughts swirling. It wouldn’t be long until he met Cagnetto, and suddenly he wasn’t sure if he wanted to. He really needed to figure out what to do with his emotions.

“Come on.” Will said, letting him go and leading the way in. “Let’s join the others.”

Nico smiled and followed, his mind going a mile a minute. He needed to think about this after the Halloween party. For now, he wanted to enjoy himself without feeling guilty.


	12. Shattered hope

November came with chilly weather. Cagnetto really hadn’t been joking, New York was cold in the winter.

Nico trudged along to school his mood dampened slightly. Soon, he’d have to face Cagnetto and make up his mind. He’d decided since the Halloween party to not flirt as much with Will and Cagnetto, and it seemed they both caught on. Even though Nico couldn’t stop the humming of his heart when he hung out with Will or spoke with Cagnetto, he didn’t want to lead either of them on. It wasn’t fair to them.

So far, Nico’s plan was, after meeting with Cagnetto, he’d spend Thanksgiving break making up his mind about Cagnetto and Will. Even if he and Cagnetto had good chemistry online, in real life, it might be a different story.

Nico was quite relieved with his decision, and it showed in his body and mental state. His shoulders weren’t as tense, and he didn’t constantly beat himself up over being indecisive anymore.

Still, the cold and the grey weather stirred unwanted emotions inside Nico. After November came December. The anniversary of Bianca’s death was in December. Nico’s shoulders slumped and his heart sank, his head anywhere but at school. His friends seemed to notice but didn’t bring it up. Only Hazel knew what was happening, and Nico was glad she didn’t tell any of the others or pressure him into talking about it. It was hard enough to have to digest all over again when Bianca’s death had left such a massive hole in Nico’s heart. It would be three years, and it still felt like yesterday when they called Jules-Albert to verify the body and he came home to tell Nico, gloom in his eyes and a frown on his face. The funeral had been terrible. Nico almost didn’t go. Jules-Albert convinced him though, and to this day, he was grateful for it. However, if they didn’t go to Venice over Christmas break, this would be the first year Nico couldn’t visit her grave. Maybe that was why the grief popped up earlier than usual.

Thoughts of Bianca, lead to thoughts of his mother and thoughts of Venice. He’d never felt more homesick than now, and he didn’t have any free periods or cancelled classes to talk to Mr. Brunner.

After lunch, Hazel gave his arm a squeeze before leaving for class, and Nico gave her a weak smile. Cecil and Lou Ellen went ahead with her while Will stayed back. He had a pensive look on his face as he eyed Nico. Nico was not in the mood to deal with him right now.

“You okay?” Will asked, his voice careful.

Nico grunted and rolled his eyes.

“Do I look okay, Solace?” He bit, then regretted it. “Sorry. I’ve got a lot going on right now.”

“That’s okay.” Will said. He put a hand on Nico’s shoulder, running his thumb in soft circles. “You can talk to me about it, if you want.”

Nico looked at him, that weak smile finding his lips again. He was lucky and grateful to have Will. Truly.

Nico leaned his head on the table. He wasn’t sure he wanted to tell Will about Cagnetto just yet. It would complicate things too much when he hadn’t made up his mind yet. He needed to meet Cagnetto first. Nico wasn’t sure why it felt _that_ important, but it did. He also didn’t think he could stomach talking about Bianca right now.

He took a breath. “I’m just… homesick.”

It wasn’t a lie exactly, but it was a massive exaggeration.

Will looked around, then bit his lower lip. “We could… go to that gelato store again if you want.”

Nico looked up at him with a raised eyebrow and Will gave a sheepish grin.

“I know we got in trouble for it already, but I can text my mum.” He looked at his hands. “It might be too cold for gelato, though.”

Nico snorted, giving Will a weak look. “It’s never too cold for gelato.”

Will seemed to choke on something, looking at Nico like a deer caught in the headlights. He opened his mouth, as if to say something, then shook his head.

“What?” Nico asked, more bite to his words than he cared for.

“Nothing. Just… nothing.”

Will shook the expression of his face and stood up. He offered a hand to Nico, and Nico took it and let Will lead him outside the school. Will let go to fish out his cell phone.

“Just gonna text mama that we’re getting out to clear our heads. Taking care of our mental health.”

Nico grunted in agreement, walking at a brisk pace to keep up with Will’s long strides. They didn’t get busted this time either and made it to the mall, Nico’s body shivering under his jacket. He might just have to bite back his words about it not being too cold for gelato.

 _No!_ He thought, shaking his head. _It_ _’s_ never _too cold for gelato. Period._

He followed Will into the shop, ordering two scoops, one chocolate, one vanilla. Will ordered stracciatella and cinnamon. They sat down the same place they did last time, Will getting a reply from his mum and texting her back.

Nico stirred his plastic spoon in his cup, mixing the gelato while his head was on the table. He’d only really spoken to Cagnetto about Bianca, and Hazel, of course. He looked at Will who was still texting, a frown on his face, a furrow between his brows. Nico wondered if he should share his worries, since it seemed Will had enough worries on his own.

Nico’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He glanced down at his pocket, as though he could see his phone without touching it, because he didn’t have the energy right now. Not even for Cagnetto.

Will started nibbling at his gelato, a soft smile finding his lips. “This tastes really good.”

Nico hummed, taking a spoon full of the chocolate gelato. “The taste doesn’t change just because the weather is cold, Will.”

Will let out a chuckle. “Guess I have to admit defeat. It’s never too cold for gelato.”

“Told you.” Nico muttered. A smile found his face. “Thank you for taking me. I really needed it.”

Will let out a huff, waving his hand. “Consider it a payback for last time.”

Nico smiled, and they finished their gelato, keeping the conversation light. They lamented the midterms, which seemed closer than ever, and how unprepared they felt despite the studying. They spoke about Halloween and making it an annual thing, maybe alternating between who hosted. Will tried to explain Thanksgiving to Nico, and Nico wasn’t quite sure he understood it, but he appreciated the sentiment none the less. In turn, Nico tried to explain the Carnevale to Will with all its lavish costumes and masks. Will tried to understand it by comparing it to Easter, and even though that wasn’t exactly right, Nico appreciated the effort.

Will’s phone rang at some point. Mama Solace had come to pick them up. She did not look amused when they made their way out to her. She was alone in the van, inviting the boys into the back.

“I’m glad you wrote this time,” she said after they strapped in. “But I really would prefer if you didn’t skip school, Will.”

“Sorry,” Will muttered.

“He did it for me,” Nico said. “I was not feeling mentally well, so he took to me to get gelato. I feel a lot better now thanks to it.”

Mama Solace hummed in the driver’s seat then took off. “I had to contact the school who no doubt contacted your father, Nico. I doubt he’s happy about you skipping. Especially with midterms so close.”

Nico sighed and leaned back in his seat. “Yeah. Knowing him he’ll give me the disappointed silent treatment.”

“You think he’ll take it that badly?” Mama Solace asked, glancing at him in the rear-view mirror.

Nico shrugged. “He might take the month into consideration.”

Will gave him a curious look. “The month?”

Nico shrugged. “November and December are generally not good for me. Someone close to me died near Christmas.”

Will gave him a worried look and touched his shoulders. Although, there was something else in Will's eyes Nico couldn’t quite place. Not pity, that was for sure. More like Will was trying to piece something together that he might think Nico had the key to.

Will gave Nico a small smile. “If you need anything, let me know, alright?”

Nico returned the smile, not doing as badly as he had earlier. He nodded, putting his hand atop Will’s.

“Maybe, you could invite him to the pre-Thanksgiving weekend,” Mama Solace said.

Will looked at her, even though her eyes were on the road. “Pre-Thanksgiving weekend?”

She gave him a quick glance in the rear-view mirror before her eyes snapped back at the road. “Yeah. I figured it’d be a good tradition to start, since it’ll be first year without Lester.”

Will bit his cheeks. Nico saw him take a breath, as if he wanted to yell but had to keep himself in check.

“That’s… nice,” he said.

Nico couldn’t tell if Will was genuine or not. Maybe Will didn’t even know. Nico wouldn’t mind creating memories and traditions with his friends here. Halloween had been good for him. Going to get gelato had been good for him. The more traditions and memories he created here, the less he missed Venice. Nico doubted there would ever come a time when he didn’t miss Venice, but it was better to have a happy memory in the back of his head than a big loss that tore at his heart. With his friends, with Will, with Cagnetto, he was already getting there.

“I’m guessing we’re hosting it?” Will asked.

Mama Solace hummed affirmatively. “I was thinking we could invite your school friends.”

“Frank is coming during the Thanksgiving break,” Nico said. “So if you invite Hazel, you’ll have to invite him as well.”

“That’s alright,” Will smiled. “I like Frank. That would make you, me, Cecil, Lou Ellen, Hazel, and Frank.”

“And me,” mama Solace teased.

“Yeah. And you,” Will smiled. “So. When would we host it?”

“I was thinking Saturday the 21st. Weekend before break. I don’t think we can expect them to be able to come during. We might also go to grandma and grandpa’s some time during the break.”

Nico’s heart sank into his stomach. That was the weekend he was supposed to meet Cagnetto. Even though he was starting to consider to push it off for a bit, because he was still not sure about his feelings or what to tell Cagnetto, a part of him had been looking forward to it with anticipation.

Next to him, Will went pale. Nico was almost scared he was going to throw a tantrum if he couldn’t throw anything else. Tears gathered in his eyes, and he bit down on his cheeks, swallowing hard.

“Does it have to be _that_ Saturday?” Will asked.

“Friday won’t be good for me because of work, and Sunday you we’re going to start packing to see your dad.”

“We’re seeing Dad?”

Mama Solace smiled. “Yeah. He and I talked about it. We don’t want to be split up during Thanksgiving or Christmas. We thought you might like it.”

“I wish you’d asked me sooner.” Will leaned back, rubbing at his eyes. “I kind’a made plans that Saturday.”

Mama Solace pouted. “We could push it till next year instead.”

Something in Nico’s stomach constricted, and he clenched his fists, fighting his own tears. He both loved and hated Mama Solace for getting that idea out of nowhere. Even if she invited them later in the afternoon, or toward the evening, that would be a constant distraction for Nico when he met Cagnetto for the first time. His blood started to boil, and he had to fight himself from starting to seethe. It’s not like he didn’t want to create these memories with his friends, but now that he couldn’t even be in charge of whether or not he saw Cagnetto, he also felt the guilt and shame for wanting to put it off.

Will gave a sigh, hanging his head. “It’s fine. I’ll just… reschedule the other thing.”

Will’s voice wasn’t that sincere. Nico wondered why he agreed with it when it was clear he’d rather not. Maybe he was having a similar dilemma to Nico, since he was faced with hanging out with his friends or doing whatever else he'd planned. Nico certainly would feel guilty if he chose someone random over the little group of friends he had managed to get since he moved.

“Are you sure?” Mama Solace sounded sceptical. “You don’t sound convinced.”

Will looked up, a weak smile on his face. “I’m sure. I do want to spend time with my friends. I can rearrange the other thing.”

“Are you absolutely sure?”

Will rolled his eyes, letting out a sigh that sounded exasperated. “Yes, mum. I am a thousand percent sure. Now, let’s just get home so you can tell me all the details and I can relay them.”

Nico couldn’t stop staring. Despite the clear disappointment in Will’s eyes, he still managed a smile. Nico himself wasn’t sure he wanted to participate, then again, he did enjoy creating these memories with his friends. He definitely didn’t need this dilemma right now.

* * *

When Nico came home, he threw himself onto his bed and closed his eyes. His ears were ringing, and his face felt warm. Obviously, Dean had lectured him once he came home and grounded him for the weekend. He even threatened to take away the pre-Thanksgiving weekend and have Nico help with some house cleaning that day. At least Nico wouldn’t have to feel conflicted if Dean did that. Hazel had convinced him not to, though. She wanted to go to the thing, so obviously she wanted Nico to come too.

Nico let out a sigh and fished out his phone. He already had a text from Cagnetto.

_[Cagnetto - 12:15pm] I’ve been roped into eating gelato while it’s cold_

Nico raised his eyebrow, unable to stop himself from thinking about him and Will having gelato. Wasn’t it around the same time? Nico snorted and shook his head. As if he were that lucky. Cagnetto being Will would be hilarious, though. Not very likely with Nico’s luck, so he pushed the thought aside the best he could.

He sighed and considered how to word the bad news.

_Hey, Cagnetto. I’ve been roped into something on our Saturday. Think we can push till Sunday?_

Nico let out a snort that turned into bitter tears. He had finally convinced himself not to push off the inevitable and face Cagnetto so he could get a handle on his feelings. This was so typical of Nico’s luck, though. He should have seen this coming. Anything else would have been abnormal. He allowed himself to grieve the loss when a text came through, his phone vibrating in his palm.

Nico hiccoughed, his chest constricted, easing his breath while he wiped his tears. They could rearrange. It wasn’t the end of the world, even if it felt a bit like it.

He opened his text.

_[Cagnetto - 3pm] Hey. Something came up on the 21st. I’m really sorry. You think we can do the weekend after Thanksgiving break?_

Nico stared at it, thinking back to the van, to Will’s disappointment, the sadness in his eyes, the plans he had mentioned that he would reschedule. Again, Nico couldn’t help but picture Will when he thought of Cagnetto, a flame of guilt engulfing his body.

There was just no way. Nico needed to stop entertaining that idea. It wasn’t possible. It couldn’t be. Regardless, he texted Cagnetto back.

_[Me - 3:02pm] That’s okay. I got roped into something too and I wasn’t sure how to tell you. We can do the weekend after Thanksgiving break._

_[Cagnetto - 3:03pm]_ 🙂


	13. This year, I'm thankful for..

Saturday the 21st of November, Nico woke, groggy and with a heavy body. He had been spending so much time planning what to wear and how to look. His dark jeans lay freshly pressed and neatly folded on a stool, his navy-blue turtleneck sweater hung on a hanger. He even practised how to style his hair for the occasion. He didn’t want all that effort to go to waste, and since it was a traditional dinner, maybe it wouldn’t be too out of place to be nicely dressed.

He trudged down to get breakfast, still in his nightwear and bed head, greeting Hazel as he sat down.

Dean, Stephanie, Jules-Albert, and Hazel all sat around the dining table. Jules-Albert walked between the table and the kitchen, serving pancakes and toast from the kitchen. Nico couldn’t stop a smile from edging onto his lips. He loved Jules-Albert’s breakfast.

He sat down next to Hazel; a plate already prepared for him. It had pancakes with syrup, toasted bread with butter and some cold cuts, and a banana-blueberry muffin. He hated to pick at Jules-Albert’s breakfast. Yet, he couldn’t help himself but take small bites, trying not to get too upset about the Cagnetto situation. They would see each other after the Thanksgiving break. It was okay.

Nico took a deep breath, affirming himself with some positive thoughts. It was something he’d spoken with Mr. Brunner and Will about. He suspected Will had his tips and tricks from Mr. Brunner, because they were quite similar, and he and Nico had exchanged some different techniques that worked for each of them.

Nico did the breathing exercise slowly while eating his breakfast, mumbling a mantra in his head of _it_ _’s going to be okay_. It seemed to lift some of the weight in his stomach enough so he could go ahead with his day.

He brushed his teeth, hopped into his nice clothes, and styled his hair in something pompadour-inspired he’d fallen in love with on the internet, and which looked really good on him, to be honest.

He felt a bit better as he hopped into the family SUV, driven by Jules-Albert, headed for the airport to pick up Frank. Hazel was practically bouncing in her seat, talking everyone’s ear off about all the plans she had arranged for her and Frank during Thanksgiving break. Nico was glad for her, even if he lost track of all her ideas during the ride.

The airport was a pretty standard affair, from Nico’s few times having seen this. They stood and waited for Frank, Stephanie holding a hand painted sign with his name on and some animal drawings. Hazel had supposedly made it some time ago and plastered it onto some sturdy, thin wood. Or was it thick cardboard? Nico couldn’t really tell.

Frank came out, lugging a medium sized suitcase, a neck support resting on his neck. Hazel called for him the moment she saw him, and he smiled at her, speeding up his steps as he went over and pulled into the side so he could give her a hug. Nico couldn’t help but smile at them as Dean took Frank’s suitcase — despite Frank’s objections — and lead them to the car.

At home, they lounged around in the living room for all of thirty minutes before they set off again. They carried some food with them to Jules-Albert’s mini cooper. Nico claimed shotgun while Frank and Hazel got into the back seat, which had been folded up for the occasion. They sat with the food on the empty window seat, Hazel on the middle seat, leaning into Frank who ran a hand through her hair gently and pecked her on the temple every now and again.

Will Solace’s house was small and quaint. It had two floors and was painted a gentle cream colour. It had a small front porch, fenced in by a chain fence. Their mailbox was a simple wooden one with a sun painted onto it. There was some paint to match the wood below black lettering. _Naomi Solace and Will Solace_ , it said. Nico figured the paint underneath was to cover up for when Will’s dad’s name had been on the mailbox. Nico wondered if Will had painted the little sun, or if that was something mama Solace had taken upon herself to make it more unique and cute.

Jules-Albert opened the car doors for them and helped them balance the food between them. He even knocked the worn door for them and shared a short conversation with mama Solace before turning around and driving off again.

Nico let Hazel and Frank enter first, lingering a bit in the doorway before stepping in and adding his shoes to the pile of shoes by the left-hand wall. Mama Solace guided them to the small kitchen. It seemed they normally used the kitchen island as a dining table judging by some of the washed-out stains spread out on the counter. There was another table set up, though. It had been brought into the living room, not far behind the sofa. It didn’t leave much floor space to make it to the back door or up the stairs, but it had enough chairs to seat all seven of them.

“Just put your dished on the kitchen counter,” mama Solace smiled.

They obliged, bringing the food over. It smelled like mama Solace was making some kind of bird in the oven — Will had said something about turkey — and there was a pot on all four stove tops. One of them had potatoes, the other had green beans. Nico couldn’t see the other two, but he thought it already looked quite good.

Mama Solace led them into the living room where Cecil and Lou Ellen already sat, scrolling through Netflix while shooting down the other’s idea for what to put on.

Nico’s phone vibrated in his pocket. It was a Facebook messenger notificaiton.

_[Will Solace - Al momento] Was that you and your sister just coming?_

_[Mi - Al momento] Yes._

_[Will Solace - Al momento] Good. I need help with something. Can you come up? My room is first door on the right_

_[Mi - Al momento] Okay._

Nico looked at the stairs, his heart thrusting against his rib cage, seemingly tyring to escape out his throat. He muttered to the others Will had asked him to come up and help with something, but the only response he got was a discreet smile from mama Solace.

Nico squeezed around the chairs, walking up the stairs. There were a lot of pictures on the wall of Will and his family. His grandparents, his dad, his half siblings.

Will’s door had some stickers on it, not that Nico was surprised. They all had some dumb medical puns on them, such as a sticker depicting the hip bone with the words _Hip, hip, hooray!_ underneath. Nico couldn’t help but chuckle a little. He knocked three times on the door.

“Come in,” Will called.

Nico stepped inside, taken aback by the clutter. Will was the type of person to use different coloured high lights for different kinds of things and put in little sticky note bookmarks all over his study books for important sections to study. Although his handwriting was far from neat, even his notebook had a certain level of organisation to it, but his room was such as stark contrast, Nico almost thought he’d gone in the wrong door for a moment.

“Oh, Nico.” Will smiled to him from a book shelf, the two top shelves full of fiction books, the shelf below full of faction books, and the lowest shelf full of board games and party games, stacked atop of each other or shoved into a drawer-sized basket. “Good. I need your help with carrying some of these games down.”

Nico could only stare for a moment. Will looked really good. He had parted his hair at the side, slicking down the side with least hair, letting the other side flow more freely. It almost perfectly imitated a side cut, in Nico’s opinion. He was wearing a red and black plaid shirt atop a clean, white T-shirt, and a pair of worn, snug-fit, blue denim jeans.

“Nico?” Will snapped his fingers in front of Nico with an amused expression.

Nico’s face felt about fifteen degrees hotter in a split second, and there was no way he was not blushing from being caught staring.

“S-sorry,” his voice cracked. “Which games did you want to carry down?”

“I was thinking Trivial Pursuit, Codenames Pictures, Spyfall, and Cards Against Humanity.”

Nico nodded along, accepting two of the games as Will handed them to him so he could carry the other two himself. Will gave him a quick once over, a crooked smile finding his lips.

“You look good today.”

“Yeah, you too.” Nico hid his blush behind the board games and let Will go ahead.

As Will passed him, he noticed a different scent. A perfume he hadn’t smelled before. He couldn’t place the scent exactly, but it was definitely perfume. Nico hadn’t had time to put his on, and he felt horrible about it now. He followed Will out the door, shutting it close behind him and wobbling down the stairs.

Will announced their arrival when they came down, getting comfortable at the dining table while mama Solace stirred in the kitchen. Cecil and Lou Ellen forgot about their Netflix argument, turned off the TV and joined Will and Nico with Hazel and Frank in tow.

They decided to warm up with Cards Against Humanity. Nico had heard of the game before in passing, but never played it or heard much about the rules. He was not sure if he was pleasantly surprised or horrified about the premise, but he ended up having a good deal of fun anyway.

At dinner, he sat sandwiched between Lou Ellen and Will on one side of the table, while Cecil, Hazel, and Frank sat on the other side of the table, and mama Solace had taken her rightful place at the end of the table. She requested they held hands around the table and took turns talking about what they were grateful for this year.

Will discretely stroked the back of Nico’s hand with his thumb every once in a while, smiling down at him when he caught him looking. It was hard not to smile back or be enchanted. In that moment, Nico had a stray thought of telling Cagnetto he’d already chosen Will. He couldn’t do that though. He needed to give Cagnetto a fair chance.

All the way around the table, all of them thanked for their friends, and Nico did the same. Not because he couldn’t think of what else to say, but because it was true. With his friends here, he had managed to settle in really well and have a pleasant school experience. He squeezed Will’s hand as he thanked for the number of times his friends had been there for him, because he didn’t feel like saying Will’s name out loud and drawing too much attention to them. He could see Will trying to hide a smile in the corner of his eyes.

They ate and goofed around, making light chatter as the radio played in the background. It made Nico feel like he was floating, and he couldn’t remember the last time he laughed this much — which was saying a lot, seeing as this was an especially tough time for him.

After they had eaten, they played Will’s board games in turn, making teams while mama Solace cuddled up with a book in her favourite leaning chair.

Nico and Will teamed up, while Hazel teamed up with Frank and Cecil teamed up with Lou Ellen. Nico couldn’t help but notice him and Will were actually a really strong team together. They seemed to have so much shared knowledge between them, they scored point after point in Trivial Pursuit like it was nothing. Even in Codenames, they were so attuned in their communications they kept beating the others. This made the others claim it was unfair to have them as a power team against them, and they shifted to Spyfall, which was thrilling and nerve wrecking, especially when you were the secret spy.

Mama Solace passed the desert between them. Lactose free ice cream since Frank was lactose intolerant. It wasn’t the best Nico had had — probably made with coconut milk instead of cow milk — but it was alright. It would never beat gelato, though.

The mood got quieter after that, Cecil calling for a Netflix break, Hazel calling dips on deciding the first film they watched.

Will stayed behind to help mama Solace clear the table, and Nico figured he might linger a bit as well to help Will. Mama Solace smiled at them, thanking them while placing a kiss at the top of Will’s head. He gave her a smile, but there was something in his eyes. It hadn’t been there for most of the evening, but now that everything was starting to calm down, Nico noticed the shift.

Almost like some kind of immense sadness was catching up with Will, and Nico wanted more than anything to reach out for him. He didn’t think Will would want that though, so he kept his hands at his side.

“You want to join the others?” Nico asked.

Will gave him a weak smile. “I want to get some air first. You go ahead.”

Will reached out his hand and gave Nico’s hand a gentle squeeze. Nico held onto his hand, looking him dead in the eyes. Nico knew he looked worried, but he cared about Will. He cared a lot about him.

“If you need anything, you let me know. Okay?”

Will’s smile grew and his eyes got misty. “I know.”

He gave Nico’s hand a final squeeze and went out the back door.


	14. Hey, it's you

Nico sipped at the peach-flavoured drink mama Solace had made for them. It seemed a bit out of season, but it tasted good none the less. He looked around at his friends, laughing at the TV. Hazel and Frank sat cuddled against each other, while Lou Ellen and Cecil threw popcorn at each other. Mama Solace didn’t seem to mind. She sat in her chair, leaned back with a content smile on her face. Will still hadn’t come back inside. He probably sat on the porch somewhere.

Nico looked at the others, engrossed in the film on TV, and decided to step outside. He put on a pair of slippers at the door, and silently opened and closed it behind him.

Outside on the porch, Will sat in one of the wicker chairs with a thick throw blanket around him. The chair was broad and looked like it could have been a leaning chair, with a soft, grey cushion covering it. There were two of them on the porch. Nico saw another thick throw blanket in a plastic bin and took it with him. He sat down next to Will, who seemed to be deep in thought, wiping his eyes softly with the tips of his fingers.

Nico didn’t ask. He figured it was probably because this was Will’s first Thanksgiving without his dad there and he’d needed some space. Still, Nico didn’t like the thought of him sitting on his own. Nico stared ahead of him, his phone in his pocket. He considered texting Cagnetto, who he hadn’t spoken to all day because it had been so hectic. Will still looked ahead, and he didn’t seem the type to snoop, so Nico figured he might check up on Cagnetto quickly.

He’d just grabbed a hold of his phone when Will spoke up. “Can I ask you something strange?”

Nico let go of his phone and turned to face Will. His eyes were glassy with tears, but they weren’t that red on the undereye area, so Nico figured he hadn’t been crying much.

“Sure, go ahead.”

Will shuffled in his seat, pulling the blanket closer around him. His cheeks grew red, though that might be the cold, and he took a deep breath.

“Do you think you can have feelings for two people at once?”

Nico’s heart stopped for a moment, and his insides grew hot with discomfort, contorting around themselves. He couldn’t help but think about his own situation with Will and Cagnetto. He swallowed down the discomfort and kept his voice even.

“I do.” He didn’t want to elaborate why he felt so certain.

Will leaned back and looked up, his body flaccid below him. He looked as tired as Nico felt.

Nico let him sit for a moment before speaking up. “What’s wrong, Will?”

Will blinked at the sky, his eyes dull. Nico wished he would open up some more so Nico could help him through whatever was bothering him.

Will let out a sigh and put his head in his hands, fisting his hair lightly. “What would _you_ do if you had feelings for two people?”

Nico stared at him, still and breathless. He didn’t want to think about it, but he knew he had to face it eventually. Will was already facing his own feelings. Nico wished he could be that brave.

“I guess… unless you’re, um, what’s that thing called where you have more than one partner?”

“Polyamory?”

“Yes. Unless you’re polyamory—”

“Polyamorous,” Will smiled.

Nico gave him a look and rolled his eyes with half a smile. “Okay. Polyamorous. Unless you’re polyamorous, you’ll have to choose at some point. Right?”

Will hummed, and Nico played his own words back. It was true for Nico himself. He had to choose between Will or Cagnetto at some point himself, and he was always pushing it off.

Will let out a sigh. “What if you don’t know who to choose?”

Nico chewed his lips, trying not to cry. What if he couldn’t make that choice? “I guess…” his heart clenched. “I guess you should let them both go and find someone different. If you can’t choose one or the other, find a third one.”

Will let out a breathless laugh, tears coming to life and strolling down his cheeks. “But what if the people you have feelings for, are people you’re friends with and you don’t want to lose them so you can’t let them go?”

Nico bit back his own tears and rising bile. This was too close to home. “I guess… maybe you need to be honest with them, so you can let go of your feelings for them.” He looked down at his hands, noticing they were shaking a bit. “Maybe, you should even consider keeping some distance for a while.”

Could he do that? Tell Cagnetto first, then Will? The thought alone had his head throbbing and his eyes burning. But he really needed to sort out this mess; no more pushing it off. It wasn’t fair to Cagnetto or Will that Nico ran around with these conflicting feelings.

Nico swallowed. He should tell Cagnetto first.

He stood up. “I need to use the toilet. Be right back.”

Will didn’t answer him. Nico left the blanket on his chair, and left the slippers just inside the door, trudging to the bathroom, blinded by tears. He was glad the others were occupied by the TV. He didn’t want _any_ of them asking him about this right now and have him break down in front of the whole room.

He found the toilet, locked the door, put his phone on silent, and sat on the closed toilet seat. Tears dripped onto his phone, and he took a few sheets of toilet paper to wipe the tears off his screen and wipe his eyes.

Nico hated dealing with losses, and this was another new loss. It stung to his very core and made it hard to breathe. But it had to be done. He needed to sort his feelings out and let go with no regrets. Let go of someone he had never seen and would never see, because surely Cagnetto wouldn’t want to meet up after this. Nico never knew you could feel this upset about someone you didn’t even know what looked like.

He started typing on his phone, editing and rephrasing to make sure he got it all right before sending it. His finger shook above the send button, his eyes blinded by his tears. He took four deep breaths and hit send.

 _[Me - 8.15pm] Hey Cagnetto. I hope you_ _’re having a nice evening. Mine is a bit up and down._

 _I_ _’ve been thinking a lot lately. About you. About us. I never thought this would happen, and I don’t know when it happened, but I want to be honest. I like you Cagnetteo. I like you a lot and it hurts. It hurts because I want to see you. I want to know who you are. But I don’t know if I can go through with meeting you._

 _The thing is, I also like someone else, and I don_ _’t know what to do, but I need to figure it out. I need to sit and really think about it, and I can’t let myself keep flirting with you while I do that. So I think we should take a break. I don’t know for how long, but I’ll have to block you until I’m ready again._

 _I_ _’m really sorry Cagnetto. I hope you can forgive me and I haven’t ruined your day completely._

_Until we talk again._

Nico blocked the number the moment the message had sent and allowed himself to cry on the toilet seat for a minute or two. Another person he’d lost all over, and there was one more to go. Nobody ever told Nico love could be this fucking suffocating. He cried until his body was exhausted and wiped his eyes. He splashed his face with water in an attempt to not look as bad, but it didn’t help much with his blood shot eyes. Nico wanted to sleep and never wake up again.

He sighed, unlocked the toilet door, and dragged his feet out to Will. His throat was already blocked, but he had to do this.

He stepped into the chilly air, steering towards Will who was curled in on himself, shaking with grief. Nico could hear him hyperventilating as he silently cried, clutching his phone in his hand. Nico’s heart sank, and even though he knew he needed to tell Will, he also had the decency to know now wasn’t the time.

He sat next to Will again, putting the blanket back on, and put a hand on Will’s shoulder. Will hiccoughed and clutched his phone tighter, pulling it closer to him before hiding it somewhere under the blanket. He looked at Nico, his face contorted in pain. Nico swallowed, his own eyes glazing over with tears, though he didn’t know why. Today just really sucked.

He pulled Will into a hug and cried with him. Heart break was the worst, and this was all wrong. He needed to tell Will, but he couldn’t right now, so instead he held him close and cried together. Will didn’t ask about Nico crying, and Nico didn’t ask about Will crying. They just allowed each other to cry until there were no tears left, and they both sat back in their chairs, exhausted, looking at the darkening sky.

Nico took a deep breath, trying to see if there was anything at all he could do for Will. He decided he could tell Will after the break, but not right now.

He gave Will a sideways glance. His voice came out raw, sounding nothing like him. “Wanna talk about it?”

Will sniffled, shifting his wicker chair closer to Nico, and put his head on Nico’s shoulder. Nico’s heart clenched in pain.

“It’s a bit long.” Will sounded tired and defeated.

Nico leaned his head on top of Will’s, even though he probably shouldn’t. “I have time.”

Will stayed silent. Nico felt a few tears hit his collarbone.

Will let out a sigh. “I have this text buddy. We’ve been texting since summer, and I’ve told him all these things I haven’t told anyone else.”

“Not even me?” Nico joked.

“Not even you.” Will confirmed, breaking Nico’s heart all over. “It’s not because I don’t trust you or anything like that. It’s just… sometimes it’s easier with someone who doesn’t have a face.”

Nico hummed. He understood that. “Yeah. There’s nothing worse than when people give you those pitying looks and start stepping on eggshells around you.”

Will let out a strangled chuckle. “Right?” They were quiet for a moment before Will continued. “Anyway. This guy lives somewhere here in New York now, but we’ve never seen each other or anything, and I guess we kind’a started flirting, but… I think he just broke up with me. Which sounds weird because we weren’t dating or anything, but I definitely feel like I just got broken up with.”

Nico’s heart clenched again, although he understood the feeling all too well. He was quite sure he just kind of broke up with Cagnetto, and he would have to do it to Will as well, who had already been rejected by one person. Nico didn’t want to tell him at all anymore, but he would have to after the break. It wasn’t fair to Will if Nico went around pining after him.

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Nico said, and he meant it. “I’m kind of in a similar situation with a text buddy of my own.” Will stirred but said nothing. “I think we might have crossed some boundaries and got flirty, but we don’t know what each other look like or anything. All I know is that he’s somewhere here in New York, and I’m too scared to meet him.”

“How come?”

Nico sighed. “I guess I’m scared he build up this image of me, or expectation, and that I won’t live up to it.”

Will chuckled and wiped his eyes. “Same. What if he thinks I’m this gorgeous person that I’m not?”

Nico chuckled, his chest a bit lighter. It was nice to be with someone who understood him so well. It made the world melt away for a moment, even though Nico’s heart still felt constricted.

“You know,” Will said. “He has a few things in common with you.”

Nico’s lip twitched involuntarily. “Oh yeah?”

“Mmm. He also moved here from Italy.”

Nico chuckled. He wasn’t sure if he liked knowing about Will’s sort-of-boyfriend, but maybe it could give Nico a chance to talk a bit about Cagnetto as well. Get some of the weight off of his shoulders at last.

“Mine also moved here,” Nico eventually said.

“Where from?” Will’s sounded like he was smiling, if only a little.

“Texas. He moved here during freshman year.”

Will went stiff beside him and he sat up again, looking at Nico with wide, blood shot eyes, shimmering from the tears he’d shed.

“From Texas?” Will asked.

Nico nodded.

“When, during freshman year?”

Nico shrugged. “He didn’t say. Just that he moved here from Texas during freshman year.”

“Did he say where in Texas he used to live?”

Nico raised an eyebrow. It looked like Will’s brain was working overtime.

“Austin.”

“Austin,” Will repeated under his breath. He fiddled with his lower lip before looking at Nico again. “Where in Italy did you say you used to live again?”

Nico gave him a confused glance, not sure what this had to do with their text buddies, but if it gave Will something to occupy his mind with. “San Marco.”

Will looked confused. “So, let’s pretend I have no idea where San Marco is.”

“It’s in Venice.”

“Venice,” Will repeated under his breath, pinching his lips by now. Then he started chuckling, his body shaking. It looked like he struggled not to laugh. “You— You moved here during the summer, right?”

“Yes?”

Will started laughing soundlessly. “And you— Did you come by boat?”

This had Nico confused. Nico didn’t recall telling Will he came by boat. The only person who knew so far was Hazel, so unless she had told Will, Nico couldn’t see how Will knew that.

“How do you know that?” he asked.

Will laughed even harder, burying his face in his hands. It sounded like he said _Oh my Lord_ under his breath a couple of times, wheezing and coughing to gather himself.

“And was it a nineteen-day, one-way luxury trip?”

Nico straightened in his chair, almost frightened by now. “Seriously, how do you know that? I never told you.”

Will shivered with laughter, and he seemed to have trouble maintaining eye contact. “I think— I think you actually did.”

Nico scrunched up his nose. His heart was pounding, and his ears were ringing. There was no way Will could know this. Unless…

Nico’s heart stopped for a split second, then sped up as he looked at Will, hunched over in silent laughter, wheezing to catch his breath with tears strolling down his cheeks.

Nico knew this was a touchy subject, but he had to know. There was no way Nico was this lucky. “Did your dad move to LA?”

Will coughed by now as he nodded while humming affirmatively.

There was just no fucking way this was happening. After what Nico had just written and sent. He felt his face grow hot and hid it in his hands. This was not happening. His body betrayed him, and he let out a single laugh.

Will took a few deep breaths, his voice quivering with amusement when he spoke. “How many secret rooms did you find on that ship again? Ten?”

Nico started laughing against his will. This was so bizarre. When he thought about it, it _did_ make perfect sense. There were too many things that just lined up a bit too perfectly. How had he not allowed himself to see it before?

Nico peeked at Will who still had the audacity to laugh. “You— You showed the new guy around.”

This set Will off again. “You lectured me about gelato on like, four separate occasions.”

Nico’s heart picked up in speed. There was no way this was really happening. Nico must have fallen asleep in the bathroom from crying and he was now dreaming. He was convinced. He pinched himself to check, just to feel his face grow warmer when it stung.

This was real, alright. He had actually written that confession to Cagnetto, and Cagnetto was actually Will Solace who was doubled over in laughter next to him.

Nico watched as Will laughed and laughed and laughed, worried he might eventually choke. Meanwhile, Nico’s body grew warmer and warmer, and he could not tear his eyes away.

“Did you end up getting the dog?” He asked, because it could still just be wild coincidences, right? Nico could not actually be this lucky.

Will heaved in a breath while shaking his head. “They were sold out.”

Nico squirmed in his seat, his heart pounding a mile a minute, his palms sweaty, his head spinning. Will really was Cagnetto?

“How did you get that giant teddy bear home from the amusement park?”

Will finally seemed to calm down, his face beet red. He wiped tears away, his smile stretching so far on his face it looked painful.

“I left it with my grandparents.” His smile grew softer and his eyes shimmered while he let out a silent sigh. “I can’t believe it’s you.”

Nico couldn’t believe it either. The odds were too slim. One in a gazillion. He fished out his phone, unblocked Cagnetto, and motioned for Will to take out his phone. Will obliged, holding it with the screen facing up. Nico wrote a single message and hit send.

Will’s phone gave a tweet, and his screen lit up. On the front screen, in unmistakable writing, Nico saw the word _Grandpa_ and below, his own message: _Hi_.

Will smiled, opened up WhatsApp, and wrote something. Nico locked his screen and put his phone down, face-up. It pinged. In bold letters, _Cagnetto_ , and below, _Hey_ 🙂

Nico looked up at Will, bewildered, light, and embarrassed. He had confessed his feelings to Cagnetto, and Cagnetto was Will Solace, so he had confessed to Will as well. Two for one. Will started chuckling shyly, and Nico’s lips twitched into a smile he couldn’t control.

“It really _is_ you,” Nico said, his voice thin and breathless.

Will smiled as he reached out to hold Nico’s hand. “It really is _you_.”

Nico just stared at Will who was smiling so tenderly at him. It made Nico’s insides heat up all over.

“I guess, this solves my problem,” Will said shyly.

Nico’s heart sped up and his face grew hot. “Mine too.”

They sat for a while longer, just smiling and chuckling at each other. Nico had never felt lighter.

Will looked down on their hands and bit his lower lip. “Can I… Can I kiss you?”

Nico’s heart went wild, and he nodded dumbly, letting out a breathless yes that was barely there, closing his eyes slowly and leaning into Will as he came closer until their lips touched.

It was a bit clumsy at first, and they readjusted themselves a couple of times while chuckling, until they finally found a good angle. Will’s lips were soft and warm against Nico’s, and Nico’s hands fisted in Will’s clothes on their own. One of Will’s hands cupped Nico’s jaw, and they readjusted once more, finally parting. They leaned their foreheads together, and Will started laughing lightly. Nico couldn’t help but laugh as well. He felt as light as a soap bubble, ready to flow away in the wind.

“Hey,” Will said.

“Hi,” Nico replied.

Then they laughed again, because this was just too hilarious. This was the best possible outcome for Nico’s conflicted feelings. Cagnetto and Will were the same person. He had fallen in love with Will Solace, and Will Solace had fallen in love with him, and everything felt bright and warm.

Nico cupped Will’s jaws and leaned in for another kiss, pouring in all his passion and feelings for the boy before him.

To think, this all started with a single text with an image of a plush dog.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this fic, and for all your comments. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it :)  
> I’m currently considering writing Will’s POV of this fic as well, and possibly add a one-shot which takes place after this fic. For now, though, I need to focus on my exams, so it might be a while before that happens.  
> Until then, take care.


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